Something WICKED…..

Did the title pique your interest?  It sure did mine when I received an email from the Splitcoastampers WICKED challenge coordinator asking me to host the March WICKED challenge. 

WICKED stands for Wonderfully Inspiring Challenges Keep Educating Demos!.  This is one of the many fabulous challenges found on the Stampin’ Up! demonstrator side of Splitcoaststampers. The purpose of the WICKED challenge is to help demonstrators grow their business and/or their creativity.

I came up with three challenges that I regularly use to develop my own creativity.  Here they are :

Challenge 1: Work with What you Have. Pick something from your stash that you bought because you “had to have it”, but haven’t used because you weren’t quite sure what to do with it. For me, it was the ribbon I used for my card. This was probably the project I struggled with the most out of all three. It took 2 days for me to finally come up with a project I liked using this ribbon. Download a pdf handout on how this card was made HERE.

Challenge #2: Try a new color combo. The idea here is to step outside of your comfort zone. The colors I chose are Old Olive, So Saffron and Dusty Durango. You can either use those, or reach for colors that you don’t normally use or you don’t normally combine.  You can download a pdf handout for this card HERE.

Challenge #3: Find a one page scrapbook layout or “sketch” in your favourite magazine and re-create it using all (or mostly all) Stampin’ Up! product. Then, if you want to challenge yourself further, turn it into a 2-page layout. There are so many wonderful scrapbooking products on the market. As a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator I think it’s important to show my customers that you can re-create a lot of the “popular looks” or “hot trends” using many of our Stampin’ Up! products. The second part of the challenge comes from the fact that as a scrapbooker I find that it’s often hard to find ideas for 2-page layouts. I’ve started turning to some of my favourite scrapbooking publications (Creating Keepsakes & Scrapbooks Etc.) and taking a one page sketch or layout and turning it into a 2 page layout. You can download a pdf handout of the scrap page HERE.

Now if you’re a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator you can join in on the challenge by clicking HERE.  Please note that you do have to be a member of the Stampin’ Up! Demo side of Splitcoaststampers.  If you’re not a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator I still encourage you to play along as this is a fantastic way of developing your own creativity.  All you have to do is create your project, post it to your blog or website or gallery and then leave me the link in the comments section of this post stating which of the challenges it pertains to.  Please note that your comment may not show up right away – the “anti-spam” software incorporated into this site hold all comments with links for moderation. That means that I may have to “accept” your comment before it shows up.

I hope you decide to play along. As a little encouragement, I am offering an incentive for participating.  I will randomly draw the names of two people who post links to their projects in the comments section of this post.  If your name is drawn then you’ll win a planner or stamp class by email of your choice (value: $22.95 – $24.95).

Since it’s always better to start sooner as opposed to later, your deadline for this challenge is Sunday night.  Winners will be announced next Monday.  Good Luck!