Do you ever look back on something you accomplished and wonder “why the heck doesn’t EVERYONE do this at least once in their life?” That’s how I feel about Layout a Day (LOAD), a month long challenge led by the super wonderful, absolutely adorable, spunky and charismatic Lain Ehmann.

A few times a year, Lain leads about 400 to 500 scrapbookers with daily prompts, inspirational videos and page examples. I’ve now participated in 4 challenges. Some months I’ve done better than others: 31 pages last February? Fabulous! Four pages this February? I’ll do better in May : ) Ultimately, I have more pages created by the end of the month than I did at the beginning of the month, and that’s all that matters.

Sure there are sites to look at for inspiration (um, ever heard of this little thing called Pinterest?!) but what sets layout a day apart from the rest is the community. Isn’t that what we seek and love about sharing with others? Being part of a community, learning from others, being inspired, inspiring others, sharing, sharing, sharing? I’ve met some amazing women through LOAD from all over the world. Sure, we’ve never met face-to-face, but the LOAD experience we’ve shared bonds us. We share our pages, our stories. We lift each other up, help when we’re stuck, offer suggestions, share woes, share laughs, share tears, share insight, encourage each other. It’s the LOAD community that sets this challenge apart from anything I’ve ever been involved with in the online, virtual world.

So not to sound like an infomercial, and really, I don’t get any monetary compensation from promoting LOAD, but I honestly feel that if you’ve never participated in LOAD, you owe it to yourself to try it, at least once. I dare you, add it to your Bucket List!

Today, Lain is offering a special promotion – half price discount – on the next LOAD, taking place in May. The challenge is normally $50, but until midnight PST tonight, you can register for $25. It’s really worth it! Go to http://www.lainloves.com/load513 to register.

If you’d like to check out my past LOAD pages, you can check ’em out on Flickr:

• February 2012
• May 2012
• October 2012 (LOAD for ScrapHappy members only)
• February 2013

One of the prompts this month had to do with creating a page with Bucket List items. I haven’t created my page yet, but the idea of documenting a bucket list sounds fantastic to me! Some items on my list have already come to fruition (swimming with sharks!), some I hope to scratch off my list this year (photographing a military homecoming), and some I look forward to experiencing in the distant future (traveling through Europe with my husband and daughters when the girls are young adults, sharing some of my favorite spots with them!). Can’t wait to get back in my craft space and put this one together! What’s on your bucket list? What’s next to get scratched off? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by and have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c