I use a Nikon D40 and I want to enlarge some photos for a contest?

I was told I can't go larger than 8 X 10 because the camera has only 6.1 megapixels. Have I reached the limit of my camera?
Any ideas about pushing the limits of my trusty camera?

You should be able to go larger than 8x10. I had a D70s and had no trouble.

Do a test according to my directions here:

Whom ever told you that you can't print larger than 8X10 doesn't understand much about printing.

6 megapixels is enough to make a 20X30 canvas without any loss in quality, and with the right software you could probably print even larger.

Even if you were printing on glossy photo paper, you can get a very nice 10X15" print without the need for increasing the resolution with software.

To push the limits of your trusty camera, shoot in RAW, process the images in Lightroom and export the results as a TIFF file. That will give you the highest possible resolution and least artifacts.