Oscraps

July Art Journal Challenge ~ Week 1 {CONNECTIONS}

pachimac

The World Needs Love, ❤️ Not Hate. Be a Lover.
CHEERY O
Welcome to July 2025, and a new Art Journaling Challenge!

This month, we invite you to explore the theme of "Connection" in your art journal. Connection is the thread that ties us to each other, to nature, to our past, and to ourselves. It is the warmth of shared experiences, the strength of relationships, and the beauty of understanding. This challenge is an opportunity to reflect on the connections in your life and express them creatively.

Connection emphasize the importance of human relationships, highlighting how shared experiences, empathy, and belonging contribute to a fulfilling life. They suggest that connection is not just a feeling, but a vital part of our existence, giving purpose and meaning to our lives.

Some prompts about "Connection":

Reflect on a meaningful relationship in your life. How has this connection shaped you?

Depict symbols of connection—bridges, trees with intertwined roots, hands reaching out, or anything that represents unity and togetherness to you.

Use words, textures, and colors that evoke a sense of belonging, love, and harmony.

Explore the balance between solitude and connection—how do you maintain a connection with yourself while engaging with others?

Tips for your creative process:

  • Embrace collaboration—consider incorporating words or artwork from loved ones into your journal.
  • Try weaving, stitching, or layering materials to symbolize interwoven lives and relationships.
  • Include affirmations or quotes that inspire a sense of unity, empathy, and connection.
Here are 10 inspiring quotes about Connection:

  • "We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep." – William James
  • "Connection is why we're here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives." – Brené Brown
  • "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much." – Helen Keller
  • "A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees." – Amelia Earhart
  • "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." – Mahatma Gandhi
  • "We are all connected; to each other, biologically. To the Earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe, atomically." – Neil deGrasse Tyson
  • "Happiness is only real when shared." – Christopher McCandless
  • "A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare to the jeweled vision of a life started anew." – Aberjhani
  • "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." – John Donne
  • "The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members." – Coretta Scott King
Words to Inspire Your Creativity depending on how you interpret connection, here are some words to help guide your journaling:

Some Symbols of Connection:
Bridge
Hands
Web
Circle
Tree Roots

Emotional & Spiritual Connection:
Empathy
Unity
Trust
Love
Intuition

Take this theme as an opportunity to celebrate the bonds that shape your world, to honor the relationships that uplift you, and to express the beauty of connection in your journal. We can’t wait to see how you bring "Connection" to life!

Here is a mood board to get your juices flowing:
July25MoodBoard.jpg
And my page:

I wanted to share a picture of a connection that scrapping gave me! Cheryl and I met finally after years of talking online. Her daughter was coming to Vegas and she tagged along and stayed with me for a few days!! True connection can really happen when you start out as online friends!!


You can choose to do a single page, double page, tag, TN each week, or use a divided template—one part for each week. If you don’t have the Divided Template and would like to have it, you can get it here at Dropbox. Thank you to Ona @wombat146 for providing the template choices for us! If you use the template, we would love it if you post incrementally: post one done in the first week, post an image of the two together on the second, and so on until the finished page in the fourth week.

Again—the template is NEVER a requirement, just something fun and different if you want to use it.


Challenge Rules:
  • You have until 11:59 p.m. CST on July 31 to complete your pages for this challenge.
  • To qualify for the drawing, you need to use 80% Oscraps products that are currently in the store (non-Oscraps products or retired O designer products can be used whether the designer is selling elsewhere or not).
  • You need to credit all the products used on your page.
  • You cannot use a page you create for this challenge for another Oscraps challenge.
  • Upload your page to the Art Journal Gallery and then add your layout to the challenge thread. (Below you will find instructions on adding your page to this thread.)

Adding a linked layout from the Gallery to a thread:
  • Upload your layout to the gallery first. In your forum post, click the Gallery Embed icon (little camera).
  • This will open your gallery; simply click on the layout you require, then scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the Continue button.
  • Your linked layout is now in your post; the image will appear once you have clicked the Post Reply button.

Everyone who participates in any of this month's challenges will be entered into a drawing for a $5 gift certificate to Oscraps. You can receive up to four entries into this month's drawing.

We look forward to seeing your art journaling pages!
 
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What a fantastic kick off to July Susie!!! So many ideas running through my head. I started reading your description, thought ooohhh I know then read more and was ooooohhhhh different direction. Love the mood board. I cant wait to see what everyone comes up with.
 
This is so perfect for the July kick off, Susie. I'm SO honored to be included on your inspiration layout, NMeeting you IRL is one of the highlights of my life.
 
Sorry Susie, your intro was beautiful and light and wonderful. Yesterday this LO would have been upbeat but as I pondered it all night and all day today, it kept coming back to broken connection and WHY! Sorry, I followed the feeling. It lead me here and not anywhere near the beautiful intro you gave us. :heartpumppink: But, its grungy. :heartpumppink:

 
Sorry Susie, your intro was beautiful and light and wonderful. Yesterday this LO would have been upbeat but as I pondered it all night and all day today, it kept coming back to broken connection and WHY! Sorry, I followed the feeling. It lead me here and not anywhere near the beautiful intro you gave us. :heartpumppink: But, its grungy. :heartpumppink:

Following the feelings and what the theme brings up is the GOAL of art journaling to me!
 
Like Tracy, I focused on a deep connection. Shane & Shane have been a real help in my effort to "anchor deep".
 
I was really having a tough time coming up with something and then in the Daily Ooos, @vickyday said to me that I had a lot of connections. I had been talking about my visit with my BFF and it all clicked together!
Thank you, Susie, for the amazing challenge and to you, Vicky for kickstarting my creative process! ♥
 
I was inspired by the kindness, sweetness and gentleness of a very dear friend of mine, my take.
 
Thanks, Susie, for hosting Week 1! I used the quote:
"Connection is why we're here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives." – Brené Brown
 
JULY ART JOURNALING – WEEK ONE – CONNECTION – Thank you for hosting the challenge – everything is from Graceful Moments – ET Designs – Photo – mine – Fonts – Crossed Signals – Carolina
 
*Just a sensitivity warning...The following message : is about grief,recovery from that and other serious health and chronic pain issues***

Hi Susie [ @pachimac ] & Everyone...

It sure has been a long time since I have been here...As a lot of you know why I have been MIA...With breaking my neck and arm and messing up my legs and feet and being in a wheel chair with intense therapy to learn to walk again and learn to use my arm and move my neck also...Despite that horrific pain,I have had to endure even more difficult pain...Learning that my beloved husband,Ray,had stage 4 terminal brain cancer and that he would not have long left to live...There was a time when I thought I would never ever be able to rise above my deeply devastating grief and loss on top of my everyday struggles and pain...but It was 2 years on June 9th that he passed away...It took me 2 years to learn that he would want me to grieve but to also move forward somehow...I have also realized that I don't want to be sad all the time either...I am not sure how my life will unfold now...But,I have just moved into a new place,this July...and I have had so much help and guidance to get here where I am now...I have adopted a new feeling of hope and hopefully,happiness...and I realized that he wouldn't want me to be unhappy forever but it took time to realize this and a lot of personal growth and soul searching to arrive here...I now know,that I will never stop loving or ever stop grieving my sweet Ray...but I used to torture myself and feel guilty that I survived my life altering accident only to find out that he was gonna die within a few weeks...I thought I had to find ways to forget to move forward but that is not true...You carry it with you everyday and know it's there and realize that it will always be there somewhere deep inside you...but that doesn't mean that you can't try to find some of your own happiness...I am a different person now and that's a good thing...I did not like the person that I had become wracked with grief,pain and sadness...I have lost a ton of weight,almost 112 pounds, and I have cut my hair and colored it for the first time in 5 or more years and I have started to discover myself again and what makes me happy...Life is just so short and I just woke-up one day and felt different and I wanted to start trying to live again,without all the sadness,pain and guilt...I still do have bad days and moments...but they are shorter and farther inbetween...I do hope he is happy for me,wherever he is, & doesn't fault me for trying to find some kind of happiness again...

So,my layout is about the connection to the past with my sweet Ray...and the reconnecting with the new me,who is now ready to live once again and open to trying new adventures...for,whatever comes my way...

*My : Strength Of Connection : layout :
* [full credits in my gallery ]

 
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