First off, I want to tell you that there is a whole lot of work that goes into getting the MOC together. While ya'll are eating candy from Halloween, and carving turkeys, and even putting up your Christmas tree, the back room is planning and pondering. It is pretty cool. We all, of course hope that everyone that starts, finishes, but the thing about the MOC, it is not a competition. This is the total unusual part of this Month of Challenges. It is a month of challenges, yes, but the challenge is individual. You aren't competing against each other but encouraging each other. As I am going thru the gallery, I came across this amazing signature of @angiekey Look at the bottom, she has the number of layouts she completed! I love it, especially the progress not perfection. So, just a reminder, we as Hostesses and Pollys are FOR YOU, we are here to cheer you on and help you challenge yourself to try new things, and be brave. @Karen did this page for my tag challenge and the word art sums it all up: Be brave enough to suck at something new! lol, please enjoy your pages, laugh and learn, and challenge yourself!
THANK YOU @AnneofAlamo for all you do as well as everyone else behind the scenes. Some of the most challenging pages have ended up being my favorites over the years. I look forward to all the things that MOC brings...the encouragement, the challenges, the creativity, and inspiration!!
@AnneofAlamo Thankyou for sharing what you have. My attitude is that I enjoy the challenge... I may step back at first feeling a little scared but I tell myself to take time and have a go! If I do not get all challenges completed this year I am not concerned about that. I am not doing this for the $20 gift certificate or the chance to be a Polly ( which I know will never happen). I am taking part to create memory pages and also pages just for the fun of creating digital art. Also a big part for me with MOC is the comradeship that goes on with all the different threads where we are sharing a little of ourselves with each other.
@AnneofAlamo - I've always admired you for your positive attitude, something I (more than) occasionally have to work at having, so I will take this as a huge compliment! I created that signature as a reminder to myself. I kept seeing others posts ending with a row of checkmarks that proclaimed "I finished MOC!" and in my head I kept hearing, "...unlike you, Angie, who never finish the things you start. You're such a failure." I don't know about other peoples' inner voices, but mine can be kind of a b1t#h sometimes. It is a huge accomplishment to finish MOC, and I admire those who do year after year, and I don't want to take anything away from their achievement. But I needed to silence that voice in my head, and my siggy reminds myself that (a) I've finished more layouts each year than the year prior, and (b) I've created 70 layouts during MOC, which means more 70 stories recorded in our family albums, which is (c) why I'm really scrapbooking in the first place. So thank you for the shout-out, Anne, and to everyone else who wants to silence that nasty inner voice, do something to celebrate what you have accomplished rather than what you haven't. It helps.
Preach @angiekey ! I love your siggie and I love your positivity and that you silenced that inner voice (I think we must have identical twins up there LOL!)
Love the great attitude and reminder that MOC is about personal growth and personal satisfaction of learning and trying new things.
THANK YOU!!!! I have been debating on saying something all day, and you said it exactly how it needs to be said. I have absolutely loved every single year that I have participated in MOC... even the years that I didn't complete it all. Were there "challenges" along the way? Definitely. Did a few push me completely out of my comfort zone? Abso-freaking-lutely! And I know that I wasn't alone. What I did discover is that if I had questions or needed clarity or ... gasp ... my layout didn't quite meet the requirements, the hosts and Pollys were there to help me, encourage me, lovingly push me along the way <3 I have honestly been shocked and saddened to hear the negativity in the daily challenge comments. The hosts work hard, sacrificing time to put this amazing event together. They spend hours/days/weeks in preparation, fine-tuning each and every challenge ... probably even going back to the drawing board several times before they create a challenge that will work ... and then even more hours writing out tutorials and explanations for that challenge. Then they post it. And they check back faithfully to answer questions, to clarify, to check and triple-check each layout, notifying us if we missed something because they want us to SUCCEED!! This whole even is called the Month of CHALLENGES. Pushing us beyond our boundaries ... teaching us new tricks of the trade. Many I've kept over the years, but a few I have used only one time to complete a challenge. So, again, THANK YOU for your encouragement. THANK YOU to each and every host and designer and Polly for your sacrifice and encouragement!!! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!!
Doing something you're not used to or being outside your comfort zone can be intimidating and scary on any topic in life and the initial instinct is to be negative and take things to the extreme. But when you thinking about it and give it a day or to ...things looks deferent. Those challenges are really amazing and sometime hard and sometime easy but that is the point....getting outside of your comfort zone. I am still fighting with 2 challenges that are killing me and hoping to complete them in the end but this fight is part of the challenge. And I think that the team does an amazing job of inventing 31 challenges that will make us think and struggle and not just 1 hour scrap page. Thank you everyone for the hard work
Um, never say never! There isn't one way to be a Polly, and the diversity of strengths and styles is part of what makes TLP feel unique to me.
Post about it! Sometimes when a challenge is feeling overwhelming, stating what you are struggling with can help. I know for me, chatting about getting started or whatever can help me get out of my own head. Everyone is always willing to give a helping hand. One year, I hosted a scrap about your user name challenge. There were a few people who struggled with what to write, but were brave enough to post how and why they were struggling. People pitched in with different approaches, and boom! They were able to finish quicker.
Great post We are all in this together and to have fun. That is the key.. to learn and have fun with the challenges. Good luck to everyone!!
I have to put in my 5 cents worth . First @bjthomas ,@angiekey well said both of you. !!! When MOC started there were a lot less people taking part, and it was a lot easier for everyone ( participants as well as pollys ) ,to see everything that was posted and leave comments and encourage people. That always helps, because even if you are stuck, there is always someone to help you ,and there really is no need to be a drama queen and announce that this challenge will be the reason you can not finish ,or you never did this thing,( what ever it is ) so you cant see why you should start now.... A word of advice... It is the page that matters , not the information it contains . If the challenge ask you to put 27 things on your page , and you are a minimalist scrapper, so what ? Either go with the challenge add 27 bold things, hate it and delete it when Moc is over, and everything has been counted. Or think smart, and add for example 27 small buttons as a border, or 27 tiny butterflies scattered like pretty confetti.... both would be valid entries , so really there is no problem. I know from MOC experience, that once the journaling challenges come along, we are going to have a slew of people , who dont do private things - who cant write about the subject because it is painfull Ect… Well Don't then , - It is the page that matters , no one wants to stick their nose in your business . Really, they dont…. Most subjects can be turned into something general,if the subject is My home , write about the town, you dont have to detail the furniture in you living room…. If the subject is Health, use some statistic or another... well you get my drift. And wait a few hours , and see what other people post, you might get inspiration , to do something very different ,than you thought you had to. So I guess what I am saying give yourself a chance, give the Pollys a break, and Enjoy the best Month of the whole year !
Maybe this is why I don't read the challenge posts?! I agree with everything said here. This is only a challenge for YOURSELF....even if you're here just for the $20 GC, then do the challenge and delete it later. Personally I love MOC because I use it as an opportunity to scrap all the photos that I still need to scrap. Using the challenge just gives me the motivation. I appreciate all that goes into MOC.
I LOVE that siggie @angiekey Progress not perfection is such an awesome approach to life in general. I saw that "Be brave enough to suck at something new" on FB in December and it immediately resonated with me. I have made it my motto for the year because I loved it so much! As a MOC host for all 8 years I absolutely love the people who see a challenge and are scared stiff, but they think about it and jump in with both feet and give it a shot. Then I really love it when people admit they were scared and are so happy they tried and ended up with a page they love.
Bravo @AnneofAlamo and everyone involved with MOC!!! I was a hostess for 1 challenge a couple of months ago, for my dear CT boss Rachel Jefferies, and I have a small idea of how hard it is, to brainstorm, think of details, publish, keep track of the participants...and with the idea of keeping it fun! ( and MOC is so much bigger, so, hard to organize!!) so, again, thank you so much for the hard work, and please bring it on, I love learning new things!!