JessicaSprague.com

Tuesday is now going to be Challenge Central around here ... we'll announce our weekly challenge winners as well as share with you a bit about the challenges that we have going on in our forums! I hope you'll jump in with both feet - challenges are such a great way for you to push your creativity, try something new, and get to know some of the other awesome members in our community!! Not only that but you put yourself in the running of the coveted $5 Spraguebuck prize that is given out with each challenge *WOOT*

Spraground Challenge

Margje had a super fun challenge for us where she provided a type of game - choose which row of squares to follow in order to create your own challenge!! Many of you did just that and there were some fun layouts shared in the Challenge Gallery. The winner of Margje's challenge is groentje - congrats! Watch your inbox for your prize!

This week in our forum the lovely Linda has another fun challenge to push your skills and increase your awareness of the letters around you. You can see all of the details for her "to the letter" challenge right HERE. You will have until Friday, February 10th to share your challenge layout in our gallery for a chance to win ... I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Photography Challenge

Gary got his challenge posted a little late this past week ... he was too busy lounging at the lakehouse *wink* At least he brought back some photos for inspiration to push your knowledge of exposure to a new level that involves taking multiple photos and layering them to get a great final image. You can read all of the details behind his Expos-e challenge HERE. Jump right in and make sure to share your photos with us in the Photography Challenge Gallery by Friday, February 10th. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Don't miss out on your chance to participate ... new challenges are posted on Fridays in the General Forum!

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We're keeping it short and sweet today so you can get on with your weekend ... AFTER you check out the latest episode of Photoshop Friday, of course!! Learn to convert a photo to black & white, download a fantastic template, and receive a PDF with step by step instructions and loads of extra inspiration!!

Have you had the opportunity to play with the past 4 inspiring templates? Our creative team has done a wonderful job of creating plenty of sample layouts that are included in the PDFs that come with your Photoshop Friday purchase. Have you already subscribed? Awesome. You can access them by going to My Classes in the navigation bar {in case you hadn't already gone in to find them}. You can still subscribe for 13 weeks, 26 weeks, or a full year. Not ready to commit to a subscription? No worries ... you can purchase individual episodes at any time once they are released.

A quick reminder that our challenge winners are being announced on Tuesdays now so make sure you check back in a few days to see if you were one of the lucky winners - all you have to do is participate in our challenges for an opportunity to win $5 Spraguebucks! You can always find our challenges in the General Forum ... stickied right up top!

Have a magical and creative weekend :)

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Welcome to the weekend! Sorry for not getting around to posting last Friday - no challenge winners and no Photoshop Friday was posted. It was one of those weeks. I'll make sure you don't miss out on anything by playing catch up today *wink*

Photoshop Friday

Last week Jessica taught you how to add distressing to a journaling block. If you have a subscription to PSF then you should already have the lesson under the My Classes section of the website. Did you miss that one? No worries ... you can click on the preview to be taken to the page where you can purchase it!

This week Jessica will teach you how to journal around a photo collage. Once again, you can find it under My Classes if you're a subscriber or you can click on the preview and purchase it for $2.99.

Challenge Winners

Are you participating in our challenges? We sure hope so!! There is a new challenge posted in the General Forum every Friday. The challenges are typically be centered around a template, a color scheme, a theme, or some other inspiration that our fearless leaders come up with. Each week we will randomly choose a "winner" from those who participated to receive $5 Spraguebucks! What's not to love about that? Challenges are a GREAT way to get involved in the community and push yourself to try something you might not have thought of on your own.

Starting in February we will be posting the challenge winners on Tuesdays instead of Fridays as we make some simple changes around here. The new challenges will still be posted in the forum on Friday, but we will announce the winners 11 days later on Tuesday. So, the next challenge posted today, January 27th will have the winners announced on Tuesday, February 7th.

Going back just a bit, 2 weeks ago we had Mandi hosting and she challenged us to expose "What's in your Wallet?" Not only did she include some great visual inspiration but she shared a super darling freebie. Congrats to lynnaxel for her great layout ... enjoy your $5 Spraguebucks!

Now for this week, Liv asked us to Keep it REEL by drawing inspiration from one of your favorite movie quotes. It was so fun to see what you pulled out from some great movies! Congrats to clarhan for her layout. P.S. Make sure you read her journaling ... it.is.so.awesome. $5 Spraguebucks coming your way!

Gary was back 2 weeks ago with a challenge to photograph something that was partly lightly and partly shadowed. There were some lovely images in the gallery! Congrats to mommyc for sharing the image of her boys with us. Wonder how she'll spend her $5 Spraguebucks ....

Have a fabulous and relaxing weekend. I"ll be back on February 7th to share our next few winners with you!

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Welcome to the weekend, friends! For those of you that are digging into the Digital Art Journaling class, how much FUN are you having? Awesome stuff that really pushes the creative process, huh? Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing this weekend? Try joining in on one of our weekly challenges! There is a new Spraground Challenge posted every Friday in the General Forum. In addition, there is a new Photography Challenge posted every other week. Both are a great way to try something new and get to know some of the other amazing members in our community! Not only that, but every time you participate you have the chance to win $5 Spraguebucks in our random drawing ... WOOT!!

Spraground Challenge Winner

This week Linda shared the definition of diptych and challenged you to create a layout using 2 photos that relate to each other but weren't necessarily identical. It was neat to see the photo pairings in the gallery! Congratulations to hertelalice this week ... $5 Spraguebucks headed your way *wink*

Spraground Photography Challenge

Gary challenged you to create a "studio" look in your own home using an interesting backdrop or lighting. There were some great photos shared and I loved seeing the types of studios you created! Congratulations to Pesc for her bright and eye catching photo!!

Make sure you head to the General Forum to see the challenges that are ready for you this week ... you'll find them in the sticky section at the top of the page!

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HELLO, FRIDAY!!! Welcome to the first Friday of 2012 ... we hope this week has been a great start to your New Year! This year Jessica is bringing you an all new Photoshop Friday Series that is sure to teach you new things, provide you with fabulous new templates, and share LOADS of inspiration to keep you scrapping all year long! Our new subscription plan makes this extra easy - just choose your subscription level {January 2012-March 2012, January 2012-June 2012, or January 2012-December 2012} and each episode will be added to the My Classes section of your account every Friday ... easy peasy!! Not ready to commit to a subscription? No problem. You can still purchase individual episodes each Friday for $2.99. Just click on the preview to be taken to this week's episode:

We have SO MANY winners to announce this week, too! First of all, we have challenge winners to announce from last Friday and today - WOOT!

Spraground Photography Challenge

A few weeks ago Gary posted a challenge to take a photo of what the holiday season was about for you. It can be such a busy time of year and I typically find it so easy to get "lost" in they busyness of the holidays!! Several of you took the challenge to heart and shared some of what the holidays mean to you - thank you for that! And a big congrats goes to tnscrapper for not only the photo that she shared but for showing off the gift that she made for her friend in our Mouse, Paper, Scissors: Give class!! Keep an eye out for your $5 Spraguebucks!

For the current challenge, Gary shared some great info on creating that "studio backdrop" look by using a few simple props at your own house!! You can see all of the challenge details HERE and you have until next Thursday, January 12th, to upload your own photos for the challenge. There are already some great images being shared in the Photography Challenge Gallery. This one from hertelalice is just too cute!! Can't wait to see what the rest of you have to share *smile*

Spraground Challenge Winners

A few weeks ago Liv challenged you to choose a quote from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to use as your title or journaling (or any part of your layout) and use a few photos that you had taken over the holidays to complete your page. For the looks of it, there were some wonderful celebrations!! Congratulations to lynnaxel for her 2-page spread ... how adorable is that baby?

This week, Noreen gave us a challenge to look back at our past scrapping, choose a layout to rework, and to change it up with our "new" scrapping eyes! Sharing the "before and after" layouts is always a treat! Congrats to pinewoodtoo for her great update!

Make sure to check our General Forum every Friday for a new challenge ... you never know when YOU might be the one to win the $5 Spraguebuck prize!!

Digital Art Journaling Winners

This week we gave you 3 chances to win a seat in our new Digital Art Journaling class that begins on Monday. You filled our comment boxes and flooded our Facebook wall and we are thrilled to make the day of three lucky ladies!! Congrats to the following ...

From our website:

From our Facebook Page:

From Jessica's Blog:

Congrats to Amaila, Myra Taylor, and Cindy E!! Please email kari@jessicasprague.com so I can get you enrolled and ready for class to start on Monday.

And with that, I'm off to enjoy my weekend!! I hope you have a fantastic one that includes a little time to get your craft on *wink*

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You have just a few more days to get registered before our brand new Digital Art Journaling class begins on Monday, January 9th! We are so excited about this new and unique class that will help you explore a whole new application for your digi skills. It will be instructor led and will last for 3 weeks with video lessons, journaling prompts, daily emails, and a gorgeous 200+ piece kit designed by Nancie Rowe Janitz!! You can still grab it for 20% off ... don't miss out on a great deal for this brand new class *smile*

Want a chance to win a seat in the class for FREE? We'll give you 3 chances!! First, leave a comment here telling us one of your crafting goals for the New Year. Second, head over to our Facebook page for another chance to win. You will need to "like" our page in order to leave a comment. Last, make sure to stop by Jessica's blog for a third chance to win. You will have until Thursday, January 5th at 11:59 PM PST to enter in all 3 places. We'll draw and announce the winners here on Friday, January 6th so we can get the lucky winners enrolled and ready to start class on Monday *wink* Good Luck!!

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As we make our way into this wonderful weekend, I want to take the opportunity to wish all of you the happiest of holidays!! Regardless of what or how you celebrate, may this season be filled with love and joy {hugs}

Sitewide Sale Continues

You have just one more week to cash in on some of the best deals of the year!! Our sitewide sale will end on December 31st, so load up your cart with the classes and products that are on your wishlist ... you deserve it *wink* And don't forget the people you love - they deserve the wonder of jessicasprague.com, too! Gifting classes is a GREAT way to share the gift that keeps on giving.

Help Us Celebrate your Birthday!

Make sure you have included your birthday in your profile here at JS.com - look just beside your photo here in the forum, and you'll see the "My Profile" link - click on that to add your info! We'll be utilizing your birthday to send you a special gift in 2012, so make sure you fill that out ok? Trust me ... you don't want to miss out!

Spraground Challenge

What will your one word be for 2012? The word that will define what you want for yourself in the new year? Liv challenged you to choose YOUR word for next year and create a layout to share that word ... she even gave you a template to jumpstart your creativity!! There were lots of great words shared, and I'm sure even more will be popping up around the gallery and forums. Congrats to  robyn47au for sharing her layout - $5 Spraguebucks are coming your way!!

Spraground Photography Challenge

Gary can be such a "mean one" in his photo challenges, but this week he loosened up his usual SOOC requirement and challenged you to share a photo of what this holiday season is all about for you. You can read all of the details in the forum. You have until next week to post your photos so I'm sure we'll see even more in the gallery, but here's a little inspiration from the images posted this past week - thanks to PatchyLou for sharing your super fun photo!

Aaaaannnnndddd ... I'm off!! Have a spectacular weekend - I'll be celebrating BIG as I turn 40 on Sunday *EEK*

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Raise your hand if you've spent any "unreasonable" amount of time on the Pinterest site ... that's what I thought. I can easily get sucked in and not wander out for hours!! I've been trying to limit myself lately, but the inspiration is truly amazing. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, I highly recommend it *wink*

My project today was inspired by two different things that I saw on Pinterest. Before I go any further, I will apologize for the quality of my photos. First of all, I always seem to work on things at night which is not an ideal time to take pictures. Second, the lens on my DSLR is not working well for me right now - it doesn't want to focus where I *think* it's going to focus. The sad thing is, everything looks ok as I'm shooting, but the photos are not what I see through the lens. *sniff* So, that being said, the photos aren't the best, but hopefully you can get an idea of how things turned out!

A few years ago I received a gift from one of my very dear online friends. She had made me a nest necklace with 4 little eggs in it. I continue to wear it at least a few times a week and it is easily one of my very favorite pieces of jewelry {thanks, Denise}!! Earlier this year I found a tutorial through Pinterest where I learned to make them for myself - YAY!! Here was that first bit of inspiration {linked to tutorial}:

Can you see why I love this? So unique, personal, and fabulous. I decided to make a few for some of my friends with the hopes that they would love them as much as I love mine. Here were my results - I found that 3-4 beads are the easiest to work with and I prefer using 22 gauge wire {I also used 20 gauge and 24 gauge}:

Once I had the necklaces done I knew I needed some way to package them up ... something this cute needs equally great packaging, right? I had a few metal tins in my {overwhelmingly large} stash that I knew would be perfect to box these up. Enter my second bit of inspiration from Pinterest. I saw this scrapbook page that had been shared and LOVED the idea of the border that was created with circle and scallop punches:

I decided to use the same idea on the top of my tins using some of the papers from the Snow Day collection from Pink Paislee. I printed them on a metallic photo paper from Red River Paper. There is not a photo in the world that could do this paper justice. Gorgeous, gorgeous!! I set them up in Photoshop in 2" strips since I knew all of my punches could work within that size. I also created a little label that would go on top - the first thing that came to mind was the "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem and it stuck!

Once I had everything printed, I cut the paper into strips and then punched them using a few different sizes of circle punches and a scallop punch. After I had my shapes punched, I cut each of them in half.

I then took the half shapes and used some monoadhesive to attach them in a border along the top and bottom of the tin front. It looked like this after that was done:

I added a few pop dots to the back of my word tag and used that to cover the center of the tin.

Working with the more limited space {on the top of the tin} changed the overall look a touch, but I *love* the way it turned out!! Now for the inside ... I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to fit the inside and scored it about 1/2" from the end so it would prop up the top end to allow the necklace to hang inside the tin. I rounded the corners to help it fit perfectly and it made a slot to hang the chain from the corners.

I hung the chain through the corners and taped the extra chain to the back of the cardstock so that it would be "hidden" when it was inside ... take a look at the final results:

And another look at the finished top:

I hope the recipients love them as much as I do *smile*

Supplies Used:

Snow Day Paper Pack by Pink Paislee

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Have you got a little extra time this weekend? I know ... who am I kidding? It's just a week until Christmas!! Well, if you happen to get a free hour to yourself, you'll be happy to know that Jessica was a guest on The Digi Show podcast this week!! The discussion focused on digital designing, but there was lots of chatter about other things, too *wink* You can listen to the entire show HERE. You can also listen to past episodes HERE or by downloading them in the iTunes Store!

Let us reward you!

Are you taking advantage of our *new* rewards program? You earn points for all of your purchases which will add up to FREE money for you to spend in our shop!! And with our Annual Holiday Sale, you can save big bucks AND earn yourself lots of points. Here are the details:

1. You will earn 1 point for each dollar spend on classes, and you will earn 2 points for every dollar spent on digital products. You will earn double points for a single purchase of $100 or more.

2. Once you earn 200 points you will receive a $10 gift certificate emailed directly to you!!

3. You can check your reward point balance and gifts received at any time by going to the "My Rewards" page under the Student menu. You will also find all of the information that you need about this AWESOME program!

4. If you are are registering as a new user and choose to sign up for our newsletter, you will receive 50 bonus points at registration!!

5. As our holiday gift to you, all customers will receive 50 *FREE* points *CHEER*

Photography Challenge

This "ghostly" challenge was a tricky one, but so cool!! Since only 2 different people posted images for this one, we're giving $5 Spraguebucks to each of them! I posted one of caffeenfree's photos last week, so here is one that skalleberg uploaded! Congrats to both of you, ladies *smile* Make sure to check the General Forum for the next Photography Challenge.

Spraground Challenge

Linda used some product inspiration for her challenge this week, and it was clean, simple, and gorgeous! The layouts that were submitted this week followed that same idea. Congrats to phxnjc on her randomly winning layout!

And with that, I will leave you to enjoy your weekend!! I hope you find some time to relax and enjoy *smile*

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Today feels quiet. Reality is that it is NOT quiet, according to my calendar, but things around here are quieting down to make way for a fantastic weekend!! Many of you have been busy creating with us this week in our *FREE* Holiday Class - WOOT! We hope you are enjoying your time in the class!

Remember that you've got a few more weeks to save BIG during our Annual Holiday Sale, so now is the perfect time to stock up on those digi goodies you've had your eye on, one of the classes on your wishlist, or give the gift of a jessicasprague.com education to someone you love!! You can find more information about the sale HERE.

Spraground Challenge

Liv was back this week with not only a challenge, but a freebie to go along with it!! Her challenge and freebie were inspired by an ad from freepeople, and she gave total *free*dom with your layout ... just include the freebie frame that she provided! It was fun to see how everyone chose to use the frame *smile* Congrats to bab2000 for winning the $5 Spraguebucks this week!

Photography Challenge

While we may not have a photo challenge winner this week, Gary DID decide to come back to "reality" this week to share a new photography challenge with us *wink* He was inspired while on vacation to play around with an open shutter to capture "ghost" images. Here is a a sample shot that caffeenfree shared in the gallery this week. You've got another week to take and share your images with us, so don't miss out ... you can find all of the information and details about the challenge HERE.

With that, I'm going to leave you to enjoy your weekend!! May it be filled with wonderful holiday memories!

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My goodness there has been a lot going on here lately, hasn't there?!? In case you missed it yesterday, it's December. As in, the last month of 2011. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, but the calendar on my iPhone has changed over, so I'm going with it! Besides ... I kinda like December because I get to celebrate my birthday {and so does Laurie}!!

We have a few other things going on around here that make December EXTRA fantastic!

*FREE* Holiday Class

Are you registered yet? Have you told all of your friends and family about this? If not, you've still got time before class starts on Monday!! This week long class will be super fun and you'll walk away with a gorgeous holiday project to be treasured!! The best part is that is also easy and repeatable so you can make one for every person that you know! Now, that may be a little overboard, but you could *wink* Just click right HERE to register and make sure to share the link with everyone you know!

Annual Holiday Sale

Savings abound at our Annual Holiday Sale!! Don't miss your chance to save 20% off all of the classes that we are currently offering, as well as 35% off all of our digital products {excluding the Project Life products}!! Sale runs through December 31st.

New Classes Open for Registration!

We have 3 new classes open and ready for you to get registered!! Digital Art Journaling will run from January 9-29, The Art of Poster Design will run from February 6-26, and the new Photoshop Friday Series will last as long as you choose to subscribe ... 13 issue, 26 issue, and 52 issue subscriptions are available!!

*NEW* Rewards Program

Have you heard about our new Rewards Program? Now YOU will be rewarded for every dollar you spend in our shop. Yes, you read that right ... every dollar you spend gets you closer to a reward!! Here are the details:

1. You will earn 1 point for each dollar spend on classes, and you will earn 2 points for every dollar spent on digital products. You will earn double points for a single purchase of $100 or more.

2. Once you earn 200 points you will receive a $10 gift certificate emailed directly to you!!

3. You can check your reward point balance and gifts received at any time by going to the "My Rewards" page under the Student menu. You will also find all of the information that you need about this AWESOME program!

4. If you are are registering as a new user and choose to sign up for our newsletter, you will receive 50 bonus points at registration!!

5. As our holiday gift to you, all customers will receive 50 *FREE* points *CHEER*

Spraground Challenge

This week was our hybrid challenge and I made it easy ... download all of the goodies that we shared with you during November in our Thankful Thursday articles, create a project using one of our freebies, and share it with us! Two fabulous ladies shared their projects this week, so rather than have Random choose which one should win, I'm giving $5 Spraguebucks to BOTH of them!! Way to go, hertelalice and lhellis!

Spraground Photography Challenge

It seems like forever since this challenge was issued, but Gary decided it was more important for him to take an exotic vacation than to post a new challenge last week! We still love you, Gary *wink* His challenge was to take and image and flip it to create a beautiful reflective image ... a tricky task that can product lovely results! Congrats to Skalleberg for her $5 Spraguebuck win!

And, with that, I think it's time for me to sign off and get this weekend started ... hope yours if fabulous!!

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HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY!!! Now, before I get too far into this post, I need to let you know something ... there is going to be A LOT of information contained here. It may be a lot to digest. Even more than most of us digested yesterday during our Thanksgiving feasts *wink* But, I PROMISE you it will be worth your time to read all of it, absorb the info, and sit back with a BIG grin on your face because you are going to realize there is some seriously AWESOME stuff I get to tell you about today. So much, in fact, that I'm having a hard time deciding where to start!!

Annual Holiday Sale

I'll start with the easy part ... we're having a sale!! It makes sense for us to have a sale on Black Friday, right?  The great thing about THIS sale is that you can save on everything in our shop!! Not only that, but this sale will keep saving you money until December 31, 2011. That's right - you can come back every day until the end of the year and claim the same great savings ... WOO HOO!!! All of our online classes currently open for enrollment are 20% off of the regular price (with an additional 10% off of when you purchase one of our gift code bundles) and our digital products are 35% off {excluding the Project Life products}. Time to make your list, check it twice, and stock up - we only offer this type of sale twice a year and you DO NOT want to miss out!!

*NEW* Rewards Program

We are THRILLED to announce our new Rewards Program!! What could be better than being rewarded for your digi shopping?!? Not a whole lot! Now YOU will be rewarded for every dollar you spend in our shop. Yes, you read that right ... every dollar you spend gets you closer to a reward!! Here are the details:

1. You will earn 1 point for each dollar spend on classes, and you will earn 2 points for every dollar spent on digital products. You will earn double points for a single purchase of $100 or more.

2. Once you earn 200 points you will receive a $10 gift certificate emailed directly to you!!

3. You can check your reward point balance and gifts received at any time by going to the "My Rewards" page under the Student menu. You will also find all of the information that you need about this AWESOME program!

4. If you are are registering as a new user and choose to sign up for our newsletter, you will receive 50 bonus points at registration!!

5. As our holiday gift to you, all customers will receive 50 *FREE* points *CHEER*

*NEW* Classes Coming

Make sure you check back here on Monday for the announcement of brand new classes and another deal that will keep on giving all year long!! And, yes, those will be on sale, too!

*FREE* Holiday Class

Did you catch that image on our homepage? Well, in case you missed it, registration is now open for our annual free class!! You don't want to miss this one, and neither do your friends!! Make sure the world knows so they can join us, too ... it's the perfect way to share the love of JS.com with those you love! Click here to be taken to the registration page.

Silhouette Black Friday Deals

Our friends at Silhouette have some AMAZING deals for you this weekend!! All products in the Silhouette Store {excluding machines, software, subscriptions, and gift cards} are 30% off, BUT if you enter the code JESSICA at checkout, you'll receive and extra 10% savings for a total of 40% off of your purchase!

Looking for a great deal on the brand new Cameo machine? They've got a special deal for Black Friday shoppers! Even we don't know what it is, but if you go to THIS SPECIAL LINK, and enter the code JESSICA at checkout, you'll get the best deal out there ... WOO HOO! These machines WILL sell out, so if you know you want one, you don't want to miss out!

All shapes in the Silhouette store will also be on sale for 50 cents!

All of these deals will begin on November 25th at 12:01 AM MST, and will run through November 28th, so don't delay!

Project Life Kit WINNERS

According to our comments, it looks like we might have a few people here that are excited about Project Life arriving at JessicaSprague.com!! I'm not gonna lie ... I was thrilled when I heard the news! Know who else is going to be thrilled? Emily Hamson and Suzie Quebedeaux - these lucky gals are both going to be receiving the Cobalt Kit! Please email kari@jessicasprague.com so that I can get your goodies to you.

Spraground Challenge Winner

This week, the lovely Liv shared a fabulous template with you and challenged you to create a layout using it! All of the pages that were shared in the gallery were stunning!! Lucky for JeanneD, Random.org chose you to receive the $5 Spraguebuck prize this week!

Photography Challenge

We would usually be announcing a photography challenge winner today, but with Gary out seeing the world, you've got an extra week to submit your photo for a chance to win! The challenge is to take a photo and then apply a mirrored effect to it ... COOL!! Take a look at a bit of inspiration that zig1971 posted:

Did you make it thorough all of information? Did I forget anything? Probably, but I'm sure I've given you enough to make you *VERY* happy today ... I know I was excited to share all of it!! Have a most fabulous Black Friday. Now get your shop on!!

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In case you hadn't noticed, today is kind of special. I know, I know ... it's Friday which *always* makes it special. It is also Veteran's Day, which adds to the special and revered nature of today. Today is November 11th, 2011. 11-11-11. One of those rare and unique dates that looks Oh.So.Cool when you write it down!! We couldn't let this day pass without doing something {EXTRA} special to honor the coolness of today, so we've got a deal for you. 8 deals, really.

11-11-11 Deals

Today and today only, you can purchase any and all of our self paced album classes (excluding Carina's ABC Inspiration album) for $11 off of their regular price!! Can you say BARGAIN?!? Not only can you get the album classes for $11 off, but you can also buy the Gift Codes to the album classes for the discounted price, too!! These album classes would make the *perfect* gift for a friend, family member, or anyone you love ... and they're on sale just in time for the holidays! Click on any of the images to be taken directly to the product page, add it to your cart, and save yourself a ton of money!!

Spraground Photography Challenge

The past two weeks, Gary challenged us to take a photo and then take another photo {within the first photo} focusing on the details within  the first photo. It is a super cool concept and there were so many great images submitted this week. The random winner of the $5 Spraguebucks is zig1976!

Spraground Challenge

Linda hosted a fun challenge this week to choose a favorite quote, create word art using your quote {using only one font}, and then create a page using you word art! Congrats to RosiMarling ... $5 Spraguebucks coming your way!

Enjoy your *special* day in whatever way you celebrate it! Hopefully it involves snatching up some of those album classes and getting started on your gift giving!

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IT'S FRIDAY!!! Anyone else excited about that? I think I'm still in sugar shock from Halloween. Or it may be that I'm just in shock over the fact that it is, in fact, November. I feel my 40th birthday creeping up on me every.single.day. lately {please note this is Kari writing here, not Jessica ... she is MUCH younger than I am *wink*}.

While we don't have any *big* plans around here for DSD this weekend, we do have a lot of great things planned in the upcoming weeks and months, including MPS: Give, Thankful Thursday goodies, new class announcments, and our upcoming annual sale. BUT, we wouldn't want to completely disappoint you this weekend, so make sure you come back here tomorrow to see what we DO have planned for you!!

We also don't have any challenge winners to announce today! Man ... sounds like a boring day around here, huh? This past week was {supposed} to be a hybrid challenge, but little Miss Forgetful (aka ME) never got it posted! The most recent Photography Challenge is still open for business, so make sure you check out the thread in the forum to get all of the details from Gary! Here's a gorgeous sample from RosiMarling:

And last, but not least, we will be hosting a *free* Webinar on Friday, November 18, at 9 AM EST or 10 PM EST. The focus will be creating your first digi layout. Registration will open on Monday, so look for more information at that time and make sure to tell your friends!!

With all of that said, here's wishing you the most fabulous first weekend of November ... may you create many memories and take lots of pictures to help tell your stories!

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It's the last Friday of October. Next week will be November. How did that happen?!? I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone! This weekend brings us lots of Halloween festivities ... time to play, time with family and friends, and hopefully some time to CREATE!! Speaking of create, take a look at what Tori created the all new Silhouette Cameo and their Fabric Ink Starter Kit!

These super cute tshirt designs are based on quotes from the Kid History videos that are on YouTube. The delightful Candice Stringham shared them with us in Vegas while at Spraguefest and we have never laughed so hard!! We immediately shared them with our kids when we got home and now we have houses full of kids and parents quoting Kid History all day. I think this one is my favorite ... for today. Or this one.

Tori had dreams of making pillows with the scrabble letters like these, or a pillow with the periodic table of elements like these, but since her kids have been quoting these videos non-stop, she thought it would be fun to make them some t-shirts with their favorite quote (or at least their favorite quote of that day). The kids loved them, and even came home from school with lists of friends who wanted t-shirts made with their favorite quotes! Now Tori is off to order more fabric ink and supplies from Silhouette! Maybe this time she can get her pillows made, too. ;)

Don't forget you can order one of these amazing new machines for $299.99 and receive one of 4 different starter kits {you get to choose which one} for FREE! Just enter the code JESSICA to receive this great deal!

Photography Challenge Winners

Last week I couldn't find the missing challenge in the forums, but Gary tipped me off to what it was, so I can finally get a winner announced! A few weeks agon, Gary gave the challenge to make a typically small object appear LARGE! There were some really great shots in the gallery for this one, but Random chose tnscrapper to be the winner. HOORAY!

Two weeks ago, Gary challenged you to go monochromatic ... The depth and texture in these photos were the real star of the show! It's always a little surprising that monochromatic color schemes can have such an impact!! Random  decided to give the $5 Spraguebucks to ktaylor! Oddly enough it ended up being the perfect pick for our Halloween weekend!

Spraground Challenge Winner

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