Today we are putting up the blurbs for all the new challenges and classes for 2012 starting in January. Info on the Home Page will be updated as a new one becomes available in the forums, and will remain here till the next one appears.

The schedule is: 

• UKS Art Journey - every Monday and Wednesday starting 9th Jan in the Art Journey sub-forum in Altered Art
  
• Simple Recipes - first and third Tuesdays of the month in the Simple Recipes sub-forum in Inspiration and Challenges
• Techniques on Thursday with Hysteri-Cal in the Techniques forum
  
• SNAP: 2012 - teaser on the Home Page every Friday Friday morning, post in the Photography forum every Friday evening
• & now for something completely different - Class from Shimelle, prep post on the 10th, class on the 20th, in a dedicated sub-forum in in Inspiration and Challenges .  
• NEW! SJ will offer a freebie printable in the Digital an Hybrid Downloads forum the 25th of each month.  You can see more from SJ on her popular blog here .

The Team Challenge  (new every Monday) and The House Challenge (new the first day of the Month) will now be seen only in the forums.  They can be found HERE

BlogBits and Font of the Week will return 9th January to the Home Page!

On the UKS Art Journey this week, Julie Kirk is looking at a few stress-free ways of putting the ‘journaling’ into your ‘art journaling’…

A very pretty layout with blooms and stamping and lots of little details.  Check out what looks like a stitched title.  I so love the little X kiss! A small detail but perfect. Members can click the thumbnail to see it in the Gallery.

Layouts: I adore Alexa's rotated sketch .  The placement of the feet/shoes is perfection. Silhouettes are hot and I like Sian's wood-grain take on her layout here . And a summer layout from Kazy1 lifts my winter doldrums. Claireliz is pumpkin mad, but I like it. Maybe it begain as a "mistake"  but I really like the monochrome look of Mole's layout here  - and sorry to hear of the loss of your much-loved pet. Love Laura's Blo-Pen layout on IACW too!

Cards: Cards are a bit thin on the ground this week but I do like the acetate ones from Tinkertaylor. And Alipeep's lime&pink card inthe post here is lovely and intensely coloured. And how feminine and frilly is ozzycat's card here ? Nice vintage card tutorial from terri_ann87.

Other projects: Efemera has such a pretty fold-out book on her blog. Project Life idea from tobysmum - I like the fold sample.Missed this one, I think - pretty B&W mini from YorkshireLass. Pretty, pretty canvas from Gingerscraps. Wombat found a free class and has been playing with paint. Love her sample .I quite like the Zentangled nameplate by angdrumm. And just WOW to Linda_E's journal pages (and here ).  SO eye-catching.

Downloads: Project Life is hugely popular.  I have a couple of printable sets on my blog here and Louise has some fabby ones here . Check out her cover page here - I can't help but think she missed an opportunity to pun off Family Fortunes! Not a download, but CannyCrafter shows a set of stamps for PL she has on order.  Very cute.

Sponsor Blogs: Truly Madly Crafty has a new Challenge on their blog . Looks popular with  380 adding linked projects! Check it out, and the new One Word, One Technique entry here . And what a pretty play with colour at the biskit barrel (a sprinkle of imagination). Not a sponsor blog but something to watch for - Distress Ink Pens , due at CHA andspied by Misteejay. A couple of starting points from Shimelle. Oh and thhe iPhone cover at Pickleberry - very steampunk-y!

Bender , with it's cut-out line, offers some interesting possibilities. What about cutting it on your Cameo/Silhouette (the Inline version) and backing it with the Solid version in a contrasting colour?   Or layer it in PSE, the Inline version black over a lighter Solid version? Easier still? Just print the Inline version in black on light cardstock.  Fun!

What's it all about? 12 play-along scrapbooking challenges with full tutorials.  All very different projects.  All projects you can make with whatever supplies you happen to have.  All designed to keep you inspired to craft throughout the year. 

Did you miss Shimelle's Get Ready! post?  See it here . And check back here on the 20th for the full tutorial for the featured project plus ideas for making it your own.

Our first printables from SJ -

Floral journal cards, in classic white and kraft or soft blues, perfect for journalling on. Print on 6x4 paper and trim, and if you fancy, round the corners for a softer feel. So lovely!

As with last year members can download the files from the digital forum, and you can see more from SJ here !

We had a slight technical hitch in the way vB works when combining posts - I've contacted SJ about getting the printabvles reloaded and will hope we have them available before the next set in February!