Information

[rachel0017]

THIS MONTH'S WINNERS ARE...
$5 GIFT CARD: #47 - SHARMAN PAULUS.
AUTO ENTRY FOR FEB.: #15 - ANNEMICHELLE

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND WELCOME TO 2024!! I am excited to continue the Book Lover’s Challenge and share books I’m reading and loving with you, while getting a little crafty at the same time. To kick off the year, I’m featuring a book that’s a little bit older, but I read it for the first time in December and couldn’t put it down: The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni. It was a 5-star read for me, and my favorite book of the year.



Sam Hill was born with a rare condition called Ocular Albinism, causing the irises of his eyes to be red. His father took it in stride, his devout mother was convinced it was a gift from God and meant that Sam was destined to live an “extraordinary life”, but the kids at school were not always so understanding. Continually called “Devil Boy” and “Sam Hell”, it wasn’t until Ernie Cantwell and Mickie Kennedy entered his life that he realized not everyone would judge him by the color of his eyes. However, even his best friends couldn’t protect him from David Bateman, the bully who made Sam his favorite target. 

Fast forward forty years, and Sam is living in the town where he grew up, has his own successful optometry practice with his best friend Mickie as his assistant, and lives with his girlfriend, Eva. One day, when a patient comes in with a suspicious eye injury, Sam’s past comes rushing back to him. Soon, Sam is blaming himself for causing a tragedy he couldn’t prevent, and he leaves town in search of solitude and answers. After traveling the world for a decade, a chance encounter brings Sam back home to face the demons he tried to leave behind.  


OPTION 1: PAINT THE PAGE RED
Sam’s red eyes are the focus of the book, so let’s make red the focus of your page! Your page should be 75% red – embellishments, solid paper, patterned paper, letters. Take out all your red and go for it!  


OPTION 2: THEN AND NOW
The book begins with Sam’s birth in the 1950s and then the narration switches back and forth between the past and the present, in 1989. I love the idea of comparing the past and the present, so for this option, make a page showing something from “then” and something from “now”. It can be a recreation of a photo of your children when they were little, now that they’re adults. It can be a comparison of holiday traditions of when you were a child to what you do now. It can really be anything, as long as there are at least ten years between your “then” and “now” photos.


Sample for Option 2: My husband and I when we were dating in 2000, to ten years of marriage in 2015.


The Fine Print:
1. HAVE FUN MAKING YOUR PROJECT!
2. Entries open to new projects - paper, digital, & card making.
3. May be combined with one other challenge that allows it.
4. Due January 31st, at 11:59 PM.
5. One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a $5 ACOT gift card from me!
6. Up to 3 entries permitted per month.
7. If there are more than 15 unique entries (not including bonuses) during the month, a second name will be drawn and that person will get an automatic entry for the following month.

Participants:
1. SandyK1967
2. SandyK1967
3. stinkerbelle
4. joannie
5. Donna_Coughlin
6. beachlover
7. Donna_Coughlin
8. blfonty
9. Aztam
10. wazzu94 
11. Deanna13
12. lilkoala3
13. wimom
14. aheatfan
15. AnneMichelle
16. MTCanuk
17. GinniG
18. Trek
19. Breauxlabs
20. CathyG89
21. Natalie Dill
22. LoreenC
23. Deanna13
24. Amy Jo (AUTO ENTRY FROM DECEMBER WIN)
25. lesmitch
26. Monroe1218
27. Mathandlit
28. scrappinmom99
29. VickiR
30. Jolly Holly Scraps
31. natesmom
32. karen c.
33. VickiR
34. wendycrowe
35. lisn2cats
36. teenybop61
37. karen c.
38. Charleneanne
39. pawprints
40. pawprints
41. Art_Teacher
42. pawprints
43. Laura K
44. Tammey
45. GerriW
46. hsblair
47. Sharman Paulus .
48. Sharman Paulus . 
49. ScrappyRN74
50. Amy Jo

[blbabe1234]

Great choices this month

[Aztam]

I’ve seen this book on several top ten reads from a book club I follow. Interesting challenges from the book. A must read soon!

[joannie]

I love both options!!

[Jolly Holly Scraps]

This book sounds like an awesome read! Loving both options for the challenge. Your layout is stellar!

[lilkoala3]

Quick question, Rachel. Do we have to include both "new" and "old" photos? Or can it just be a story with the then/now theme. For example, could I do a layout about my girls loving carebears and how I loved them, too, as a kid? I would tell the story in the journaling.

[rachel0017]

Quick question, Rachel. Do we have to include both "new" and "old" photos? Or can it just be a story with the then/now theme. For example, could I do a layout about my girls loving carebears and how I loved them, too, as a kid? I would tell the story in the journaling.

Sure! I love a good journaling story! Thanks for asking.

[lilkoala3]

Quick question, Rachel. Do we have to include both "new" and "old" photos? Or can it just be a story with the then/now theme. For example, could I do a layout about my girls loving carebears and how I loved them, too, as a kid? I would tell the story in the journaling.

Sure! I love a good journaling story! Thanks for asking.  

Yay! Didn't want to bias your response, but I actually have about zero older photos because they all burned in a fire in 2016 (I hadn't started backing photos up in the cloud; they were on external drives that basically melted....)!

[SandyK1967]

Option 1: Red! Combined with the Taylor Swift challenge

[SandyK1967]

Another Option #1 Red since Valentines Day is coming.



Combined with the CAS challenge

[VickiR]

Love these options!

[stinkerbelle]

option 1

[joannie]

Rachel, this challenge came at the perfect time to scrap Christmas photos from a friend of mine.
option #1...RED
 
 

[Donna_Coughlin]

Here is my son when he graduated and as a baby (option 2)

[MTCanuk]

Always enjoy seeing what options you come up with from the books you’ve read.

[beachlover]

Option 1

[Deanna13]

Here's mine using Option Option #2 - Then and Now.

I combined with the Grab 5 Challenge.

Photos of sweet granddaughter Lucy when she was little and in May 2023.
Then and Now

[beachlover]

option 1

[Donna_Coughlin]

Here is a 2nd one I did using option 1

[blfonty]

Then and now - My great nephew at 2 and at 12 years old. And he's not done growing... Combined with January Make the Cut.