We Have Lift-Off!!

SIGN UP IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO ALL WHO'VE JOINED OPAM 2010 - HAVE FUN!!

WOO! HOO! The countdown is over and the fun's about to start, cos Peg and I are ready to officially launch

OPAM 2010!!

It’s all a bit exciting ... and a bit scary! Mostly exciting though! :0) The whole OPAM Challenge journey began as a bit of a happy accident when May Britt and I decided we would encourage each other to finish at least one project for each month of the year and when we invited you, our blogging buddies, to join us, it obviously touched the right chord at the right time. It’s been so wonderful to hear how many of you were encouraged and motivated to be more creative and take a little more time out for yourself thanks to our ‘little’ challenge and with the number of emails received by Peg and I growing every day in the lead up to our launch, it seems there will be a LOT of stitching going on in 2010 and I CAN’T WAIT!!! :0)

But enough waffle from me ... I know you’re all just wanting to read the guidelines for joining Peg and I for OPAM 2010, so I’ll get on with it. I will ask you all to read through the guidelines before you join us to make life a little easier for all of us. You may even find it helpful to save a copy of the guidelines somewhere so you can refer back to them if you have queries. And now, without further ado ...

LET THE OPAM CHALLENGE FOR 2010 BEGIN!!

The One Project A Month (OPAM) Challenge Guidelines 2010

The idea of the “One Project A Month Challenge is pretty simple ... To try to finish at least ONE craft project by the end of each month. This can be something you’ve had partly done for a while (a Work In Slow Progress or WISP), a pattern you bought ages ago that you finally get around to making up, or a completely new project - it’s entirely up to you. This is meant to be a low-stress challenge - if you don’t finish a project every month - that’s fine! We understand that sometimes life interferes with our best laid plans. We also realise that some projects are meant to be long-term and have a LOT of work involved, like a quilt or a cross-stitch. The main aim of the OPAM Challenge is to give us all a little bit of a motivational boost and to give us all a big cheer squad to encourage and inspire us.

However, as May Britt and I discovered last year, there is quite a bit of time and work involved in running the OPAM Challenge, so Peg and I have made a few more guidelines this time that we would ask people to please take note of AND please only sign up to join us if you intend to follow through. If for some reason during the year you decide you don’t wish to remain part of the OPAM Challenge, just drop Peg or me an email to let us know. Your name will stay on the list so that any finishes you DO register will go into the end of year draw, but we will make a note not to check your blog each month. Please read through all of the guidelines before you sign up.

1. Participants must have an ACTIVE BLOG. (sorry non-bloggers, but it was just too hard to keep track of people who didn’t have a blog and dropped out of contact with us.)
2. The number of participants in the 2010 OPAM Challenge will be limited to 150 - first in best dressed! (Sorry, but numbers just got so high last year that it became a LOT of work to keep things running!)
3. Participants can sign up via email to Kris or Peg, or via a comment on EITHER blog AS LONG AS it includes all asked for information.
4. Participants MUST provide all info asked for. Name, email and blog address.
5. Participants MUST have the OPAM Challenge badge on their blog sidebar and link it to either Kris’s or Peg’s blog.
6. Participants MUST keep a list of each month’s finishes on their blog sidebar and update it BEFORE the last day of each month. (This is easiest if you add each project as you finish it, so if something happens and you don’t get to email your finishes or update the full list near the end of the month, your finishes are recorded and can be counted)
7. Only ‘soft’ crafts are included in the OPAM Challenge, ie. Projects made from fabric or wool. Some examples are: embroidery, patchwork, quilting, cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, practical sewing (curtains, clothes etc), long stitch, appliqué.
8. QUILTS: A quilt will only be counted as a finish if it is COMPLETELY finished ... Quilted and bound. Flimsies/tops won’t count as finishes.
9. BOM’s: Blocks that are part of a BOM (Block Of the Month) program will only be counted as a finish when they are joined, quilted and bound. Individual BOM blocks DO NOT count as a finish.
10. OPTIONAL: If you are able to email Peg or Kris your list of finishes each month BEFORE the end of the month, this would be appreciated, as it cuts down the amount of time it takes to check finishes for the month. (and save Peg and Kris from getting square eyes! Tee! Hee! Hee!)
11. Lastly, participants MUST ... Have fun! After all, the reason we craft and create is to relax, have fun and take some time away from the “Have to” tasks to do the “Like to do” ones! :0)

So ... there you have it! And now all that’s left for you to do is email either:
KRIS or PEG to join in the fun and above all, Peg and I do hope that you’ll have fun as you join us for OPAM 2010. And even if you don’t feel you want to commit yourself to being part of our challenge, I hope you’ll drop in to visit Challenge participants, whose blogs will be listed in the sidebar once we get rolling, to be encouraged and inspired in your own creative journey and to pass on encouraging comments to those whose work you admire.

Right now, though, I think I’d better go and keep an overdue date with my pillow so I’m well-rested to deal with the tidal wave of sign up emails tomorrow! Hmmmm ... if there’s going to be a tidal wave, I’d better dig out my floaties to stay above water! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS