Hey there Experimenters!

Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend! Before we get to our challenge this week we have some important announcements to make.

First off, we would like to give a little farewell to Kimmi Achord, Dena Coe and Collette Osuna. They have regretfully resigned due to other obligations. We wish them well in what the future holds for them. We will truly miss you girls!

Now, we would like to introduce you to 2 fabulous gals who have joined The Design X Team!

Lori Renn

A bit about Lori:

Hi! My name is Lori Renn. I've lived in beautiful Idaho for almost four years with my husband and three boys. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in the deep end of the testosterone pool! I thank God for this hobby of Scrapbooking. It keeps me sane and feeds my soul and makes me happy. I've been scrapbooking for 11 years and I love how it has transformed from pictures and stickers to a true art form. I also love the friends that I have made through scrapbooking and I am so inspired by them. I'm thrilled to join The Design X and all of these talented gals!


Glenda Tkalac

A bit about Glenda:

Hi there, I live in Saskatchewan, Canada and am married to my high school sweetheart, the mother of 2 and we have also have 2 fur babies. I work full time at an educational institute but wish I could just stay in my art room and make stuff full time! haha I love all things scrappy as well as making ATC's, art journal pages and mini albums. I am totally in love with stamping and love thinking outside of the box and playing along with challenges. I have been published in Canadian Scrapbooker, Scrapbooks Etc., Scrapbook Trends,Somerset Memories and the Creating Keepsakes 50 Moments book. I am also blessed to design for Magistical Memories and Angie Delarie Stamps and am on the Design Team for the Dream Girls and Gutter Girlz Challenge blogs. I look forward to playing along with all of you!

Welcome ladies! We are soooooooooo lucky to have you girls on this team!

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Now onto this week's experiment.

It's a new year. A time to look towards the future yet also a time to look at the past year and reflect as to what went wrong, and what went tried. The new year is a time to make ourselves and our lives better by fixing what wasn't working for us in 2008. So, for this week's challenge we'd like you to explore this further. Your prompt this week is:

What burdens did you leave behind in 2008? How did you overcome that feeling to just LET IT GO?

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This week we are joined by our amazing Guest Designer, Jacquie Dean.


A bit about Jacquie:

Jacquie and her husband live Austin, TX with their English Springer Spaniel collection. Jacquie started scrapbooking 12 years ago when she moved far away from her family. She says that scrapbooking helps make her feel closer to her loved ones. Jacquie's work has been featured in several magazines, websites, and blogs. She most recently was a Tulip Girl for the Label Tulip kit club, and is currently a guest designer for Dream Street papers and has designed layouts and classes for her LSS.

Thank you Jacquie for joining us this week and for inspiring us with your layout.
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Let It Go
By Jacquie Dean

Journaling:

Part of my personality is a desire to make everything be alright - in every situation. As a result, I've ended up taking on other's problems as my own. Often times this has led to strained friendships and caused a lot of stress for me. This year I am going to leave that behind. I'm going to provide support, but not get as personally involved. We'll see how it goes.


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Glass Half Full
By Amy

Journaling:

I hate to admit it, but I've always been a "glass half-empty" kind of girl. This year, I am going to really focus on changing that. I want to leave the pessimism behind and really focus on how blessed my life is. I know it won't be easy, but I am ready to see that glass as half-full!


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A Year to Remember
By Kimberly

Journaling:

2008 a year to remember.

This beautiful woman spent the last 3 months of her life with me. It was the most special time in my life and I will treasure it forever. She was my Mother in Law for 12 years and a part of my life for 17. She loved me like a true daughter and I LOVED her. Taking care of her during her last days was never hard physically...and I believe she blessed me more than I did her, while I we spent her last days together. She helped me to trust myself, as she trusted me daily. She taught me to be strong, even when it was hard emotionally. I got to know her more in those 3 months we shared together than I ever had the chance to before. I have been truly blessed in the honor of having the opportunity to love and be loved by this very special woman, Mom LaVonne.


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Embrace
By Leslie

Journaling:

I left a very important thing behind in 2008.......my 30's. Wow, it's wild to me how time flies! I'm ready though..... ready & so very eager to take on the 40's..... I embrace it... a whole new me @ 40.


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Last Year
By Sasha

Journaling:

So in 2008 I left behind 21 pounds. One of the hardest things for me to let go was my weight and sadness. I was so use to seeing myself in that shape that I just felt, this is who I am suppose to be, well looking at my family. Then it hit me, hell no you will lose that weight and in 2009 be a better healthier you. I am determined to keep 2009 positive, light and me smiling more in pictures and not hiding behind my kids.


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Letting Go
By Lori

Journaling:

Having my husband home this past year was something new to me. I was so used to him working 60-70 hour weeks, traveling and being exhausted. I was used to picking up the slack, being everything to everybody. I am happy to say that I was able to let go of a lot of the responsibility and stress of doing it all and focus on me. I spent lots of me time doing things that made me happy which in turn made me a better wife, mother, and friend. 1-09


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Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
By Glenda

Journaling:

The older I get the more I am learning to let go of things that don't matter, to try to put things into perspective. It isn't always easy but I will say that I'm slowly getting better. I am trying to worry less and live more. To let the little things not get to me.

The reality is that life isn't always rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes it's really hard but you have to be thankful for what you have!!

My life isn't always perfect but I am blessed with all that I have. I try not to take things for granted and to truly appreciate the little things in life, the simple things that we sometimes tend to overlook and forget about. These things are important!

As long as you have your health and your family everything else can be fixed. I am so lucky to have John as my partner in life and with him by my side I learn not to sweat the small stuff. Even though the kids put me through the ringer I love them with all of my heart. Together we will all be ok!


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Achieved
By Divian

Journaling:

life was sure not easy in 2008. i found myself on my own, a newly single mom raising four kids. after living with my mom, i had finally gotten life together enough to know that everything my ex husband had told me was wrong. i could get a job i could raise my kids and reach and attain my goals. with the new year i am more optimistic. i don't have to be ashamed of anything i do because i am 'doing it'. with 2008, I learned that anything is possible, that i can achieve whatever i set my mind to. it is not about burdens, it is about achieving and i have achieved.


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Letting Go ...
By Mia

Journaling:

I really let go of myself this past year. Don’t even want to think of how much weight I gained. But in 2009, it’s time to take back my life!


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Ladies, y'all know the drill!

Once you have completed your layout, please leave us a comment in this post with a link to your layout.

We can't wait to see YOUR takes on the challenge! We hope that if you've never joined us for a challenge here at The Design Experiment, that you are inspired to do so today!

See you ladies again on the 1st of February!

is:

Janis!

Awesome take Janis! This is just stunning! We loved the vintage look and the hand-cutting! Way to rock this challenge! Great job!

Be sure to email us at thedesignx@gmail.com with your address so we can send you your fabulous RAK from Studio Calico!!

Thank you again to everyone who played along! You continue to wow us every time!

Hey Experimenters!

Happy New Year! We hope y'all had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. We sure did. Now we're back to start a fresh new year of experiments. We have a few announcements to make soon but for now we'd like to give you our first challenge of the year.

If you're anything like me you know that time is so important in everyday life. Although at times I feel that there is not enough time in a day to do what I would like to do. I for one, know that there usually isn't a day that goes by where I don't say "Oh, I wish I had more time to do this". Well, here's your chance to explore that.

The hours in a day pass far too quickly and it seems there are never enough. Imagine if there were 25 hours in a day instead of 24. Do you think you could accomplish more? Do that one little thing that you just didn't have enough time for? If you had an additional hour every day, how would you spend it?

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This week, we are joined by our fabulous Guest Designer, April Foster.

A bit about April:

April lives in Bowling Green, KY, home of the Corvette and Western Kentucky University. She has been married to Greg for 7 years and has been scrapping since 1996 when she entered a scrapbook in a state contest for a high school club. Even though first place eluded her, she has continued to scrapbook, however, it is now more personal. Whether it’s documenting places she’s traveled or feelings she has, scrapbooking is now her creative outlet and one tiny way to show off her dog, Addy.

April is a Creative Director for Studio Calico and is a 2007 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame Honorable Mention winner. She has had her work published in Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Trends, Memory Makers, as well as some web-based scrapbooking publications.

Thank you April for joining us this week and for inspiring us with your layout.

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1 More Hour
By April Foster

Journaling:

If only I had another hour in my day. I stay so busy all the time, I'm sure I could fill it with something productive... I could do some online shopping: Gap, etsy, Banana Republic here I come! Ready with a free hour to shop! I could call Lorie & just spend some time having a heart to heart... bouncing ideas off of her... I could easily spend an extra hour scrapping into the night. That wouldn't be hard to do. Most of all, I would wish Greg had an extra hour, too, so we could spend it together...


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25 Hour Days
By Sasha

Journaling:

Just one more hour in the day would be well spent, not just resting, not just on the internet, it would be spent snuggled up under my boys... under my kids... or out with my kids enjoying life... just one more hour in my day... with you.


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One More Hour
By Amy

Journaling:

One more hour... oh, the possibilities! Would I clean, read, organize, scrapbook? Of course not! I would spend the extra time with my family, because spending time with them is all I need.


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Gimme Just One More Hour!
By Mia

Journaling:

If there was one more hour in each day, there is nothing I'd rather do but get extra me time, sleeping or scrapping!


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And to start of the year with a bang, we are so grateful to Studio Calico for sponsoring us this week!

We are so thrilled that Studio Calico has donated the January FOOTNOTES Add-on kit!


Thank you ladies for your generous sponsorship! We really appreciate it.

Girls, look at the possibilities you can do with this prize! Just YUMMY! Should you need any more wonderful inspiration, just check out Studio Calico, one of the premier kit clubs around, over at www.studiocalico.com/kits.


Ladies, y'all know the drill by now! But, being the new year, there is a slight change. Read on below.

Once you have completed your layout, please leave us a comment in this post with a link to your layout by Sunday, January 18th at 7PM PST to be eligible for this yummy Studio Calico prize! Yes, you read it The Design Experiment is now bi-weekly, which gives y'all more time to get those layouts in! I'm hoping we see a lot of entries for this now that you have more time!

We can't wait to see YOUR takes on the challenge! We hope that if you've never joined us for a challenge here at The Design Experiment, that you are inspired to do so today!

Hey Experimenters,

We just wanted to take the time to say we have not fallen off the face of the earth but took an over extended holiday break.. WE ARE BACK.

SO look for the next challenge coming up this Sunday and our awesome Guest Designer. We would like to also add with the new year comes new changes .. but they are all good and we are totally excited and cannot wait to share this with you.

So I hope you have your journaling hats on . . we are going to have a blast in 2009.



The X Team