Challenge #24 week of 30th January 2012

Some weeks ago, Pam shared her birthday list which she uses as a list of goals for the next 12 months.

I adored the idea and got around to completing my list earlier this month. It's such a great concept for me as I don't do resolutions any more but often come up with a few overriding goals for the year ahead. The birthday list gives me a bit of that with some bigger aims (such as decluttering my flat room by room) but also the chance to record some smaller ideas of things to do that might get forgotten in the stress and struggle of everyday life (such as to have a picnic).

One of the items on the list is to write hand-written letters throughout the year. I'm a bit old-fashioned like that and love to sit down write a real letter from time to time. Yes, it hurts the hand after a while but nothing beats an envelope hitting the mailbox with a handwritten address that you just know isn't a boring bill or advertising but rather real person to person communication. I love it and if I love it, then others must too, mustn't they?

Anyway, the topic of handwriting, or the decline in the practice of writing with a pen rather than a keyboard is something I've been thinking about a lot recently and I even came across a really interesting article about it (ironically, online!) in the Economist's Intelligent Life that you can see here.

And on Monday last week, I was reminded by Pam that it was National Handwriting Day.

Sometimes everything seems to be connected.

So we have a theme! :-) We have handwriting and we have letters. Can you see where I'm going with this?

This week's prompt for you is to include a handwritten letter as your journalling on your project.

We'd love to see your creations over in our Flickr gallery with the tag WM#24!

# 23 - Inspired by Color

Well, to be honest, I expected to be super inspired by this color combination since it was based on the colors I had chosen to re-do my room. The truth? 

First, I couldn't find the exact shades I needed in my stash. Second, I didn't have a lot of time (or energy) to scrap. 

So I did what I could. 

My favorite element on here are the paint chips I picked up at a recent trip to Home Depot. They were the right shades of coral and pink and chartreuse. Oh yes, and I am also over the moon that I got to make a page just about Britany. She is the one person in my life that rarely get's scrapped outside of "events" and "places we go". There are 7 entire albums and 2 minis dedicated to my travels with this girl. All the pictures we take (or most of them) end up there. And so I never just talk about her and how awesome she is.

Here's to the beginning of a new collection of pages about my dearest friend.

Hope you all had a great week. I know Lisa didn't get to the challenge this week, but our Leslie did, so hop on over to the flick'r group and pay us a little visit. If you played along, I'd love to see your creation (with the tag WM#23). Also, take a cue from our Heidi and save some of these prompts to use later. There is no deadline. Just pure fun!

xo,

Pamage

:-( Sorry

Hi there everyone!

It's Lisa here with another terrible confession..... it's Saturday morning, I'm heading out the door to jump on a plane to the UK for 24 hours to celebrate my grandmother's 90th (!) birthday, and I haven't done challenge WM#23....

Guess my time management was off this week!

I'm so sorry but I will get it done and I actually get back tomorrow early evening so you never know... I might squeeze something out late on Sunday. But the colour scheme Pam gave us was so gorgeous that I want to do it credit so you may have to wait a few days. Sorry and hope you don't mind.

In the meantime, I scheduled our next challenge to go live Monday morning already and I think we are all quite psyched that LOAD starts on Wednesday, aren't we?

So with that, I bid you farewell for a few hours and leave you with something pretty to look at - you know that I feel that all blog posts need a photo ;-)

This is my photo of the day from Friday 13th. Cute, huh?!?

Challenge #23 Week of 23 January, 2012

Hello all! We meet again. My intention for last week's challenge was to document my new room. I am working on re-decorating my space, which is part bedroom, part workspace. Of course, as the week went on, I realized I wouldn't finish in time for this challenge.

But after two weeks of working with these patterns and colors, I am ready to scrap with them too. It is not a stretch from my usual color scheme. I am thrilled at the prospect of all of you scrapping along with me [and possibly inspiring me in my interior design endeavors].

Here are some pins that served for my inspiration [here, here and here].

And for a sneak peak into my new and improved space...

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to be inspired by this combination of colors: Chartreuse, Citron, Coral and Pink with a hint of Teal as an accent color. I find it to be refreshing and reminiscent of Spring or Easter and also vintage in the patterns - which you can tie into Grandmas or childhood stories. It is playful, fresh and fun. I hope these ideas bring a story to mind. If not, what does this color scheme remind you of?

As always, I hope you play along [this time with an agenda of gathering additional inspiration for the finishing touches - hope you don't mind]. If you do play along, please share with us in our flick'r gallery and remember to tag it WM#23.

See you next Sunday! Have a great scrappin week ya'll.

xo,
Pamage

#22 Inspired by "new"

Sometimes I read a prompt and my mind decides instantly on a project/page. This happens to me 90% of the time. And sometimes I am even lucky enough to get that idea down on paper. Other times I am not so lucky. This prompt from Lisa instantly had me thinking about the makeover my room is getting this new year... I had a sketch, a color pallete and certain elements I wanted to highlight in the journaling.

Of course, as the week went on, I realized my makeover project was more of an undertaking than I originally anticipated so I had to change gears.

I settled on my new camera, which is also part of my 2012 and a story I wanted to tell. With no printed photos of said camera, no color ink and no time to run to the photo lab, I had to improvise. I snapped a few [bad] shots of my shiny new camera with my [also new] instax 7s. Although the pictures turned out crappy, I decided to embrace imperfection and go with the flow.

The layout was a close lift from [this] Amy Tangerine layout I loved. For the purpose of this blog I try to stick to original designs whenever I can, but this week I was just out of my mojo and needed a jump start.

I hope you were inspired by all things "new". From new languages to new things, new beginnings are all around us. I do wish we take more time to ponder about these and visit this lovely prompt over and over again.

The prompt will be up soon. Will you play along?

xo,
Pamage

#22 Inspired by the new

This week I asked you to scrap something new and it's funny but I often have no idea what I will do for the challenge as I write it.

This week was such a case in point and all week I kept my eyes and mind open for new. There were plenty of things that I could have done but this morning, I was dozing in bed with a horrible headache listening to my husband pottering around, chatting to me occasionally. And suddenly I realised how I live my life with a new language since I met him  - well some of the time anyway ;-) It's become so normal for me that I sometimes forget how new it all was when I first met him and then when I moved over here.

I actually learnt German in school for two years and at the end of that time, couldn't actually say anything so it's strange now that I'm (grammatically incorrect but) fluent these days and it's become part of my life. "Ich liebe dich" is a phrase I never imagined I would need. I love how fate takes you to places you could never have planned.

So I tried to find a photo that hasn't yet been used and this one came up - it's old, from our Nova Scotia holiday back in 2006. But that's ok, the message is timeless. And for a double win, I used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge November Glory kit which has been sorely underused.  I like the combination of colours and I think the splash of blue really lifts the whole thing.

What's new in your life? I can't wait to see.

Pam will be here soon with her share and then come back again tomorrow for the new challenge. I'm always excited to check the blog first thing on the Monday mornings when Pam sets the challenge - we don't communicate what the next prompt will be so it's such a great surprise and gets my brain working right away.

Don't forget to share your creations with us over at Flickr (tag: WM#22).

Challenge #22 week of 16th January 2012

Another Monday, another week, another challenge. And I'm still feeling the January feeling.

Now, January is not my favourite time of the year. But it's still a very specific time in the cycle of the year and this year, I'm finding it more prevalent than other years and this has driven my thinking for this week's challenge.

I change out my blog header each month and under the title I try to come up with a little one-liner that sums up the new month. Over the last couple of weeks, I've found myself saying, writing and thinking this month's. So I'm passing this onto you to see how this will take you creatively.

New year, new beginnings

There are so many ways to interpret this in full or part from resolutions and goals through to new friendships, learning something new, the beginning of a new season, trying out something new or a welcome new addition to the family. You could even try something new on your page - a new paper range you've not tried before, a new technique or the style of a new designer you've seen online.

I looked back over my pages to see if I could find a few examples and came up with these:

The story of a new life

The story of a new tradition

The story of learning something new

Have fun with new beginnings this week and tune back in next weekend to see what Pam and I have created to document the new in our lives.

#21 Inspired by completing the story

This week Pam asked us to go back over some of our old(er) layouts and see where the fuller story is missing and then to complete it.

Actually my layouts tend to fall into two categories and that was confirmed by the process of looking through my pages. Either I just make a page because I like the picture or the products or I'm playing; or I make a page where there's quite a lot to say. And I have to say that most of the time, I'm happy to say that I really do say a lot ;-) This made me realise that my stories are not always the most important part of my creating but I really enjoy filling out the bones of those stories that are.

The part of this process that was the most difficult was actually looking through my old layouts! When we moved 2 1/2 years ago, I stuffed all my layouts in any album and page protector that came to hand. And since that time not a single layout has been put into an album! *Shock horror*! So I went and looked into those older albums and was horrified at the quality of those early layouts and not only was the story often missing but everything else too! So I felt a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to identify something in there. And since then, all the layouts are either sitting in a huge pile next to my desk or in a big plastic box. I feel sick just looking at them all neglected and warping :-(

But not to be deterred, I picked up the most recent pile but these stories were mostly pretty complete. I was really wondering what to go for. There are always more stories to tell about our Nova Scotia or Yukon adventures and a lot of relationship stories but these felt too big to tackle today - whether that's right or wrong.

And then two layouts sprung to mind which use the same photos but have STILL not told the story behind them. They are photos from my special birthday party and I've used them on two different relationship pages because I love how much they say about our feelings for each other, but really, they relate to a story about our very first ever dance. So I made the layout.

Just incase anyone is interested in the story :-)

Yes, I now have three layouts that feature almost identical photos, but you know what? I'm totally OK about that. I love the fact that these photos have now not only told the story itself, but also two other aspects of our time together.

What stories have you not really told or haven't told in as full a way as needed? Both Pam and I are excited to see what you create this week.

Link up over at our Flickr gallery using the tag WM#21 and we'll "see" you there!

#21 inspired by completing a story

A crazy week at work left me with little time [and desire] to play. I kept postponing going through old layouts, though that is one of my favorite activities.

However, today while I was jazzing up my blog, [daily pamage], I found this entry [the story behind a layout]. I knew then and there that I wanted my actual journal entry in a layout. I loved re-reading my aha moment. Then I remembered this challenge and thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a companion page.

Because the supplies were all digital I was able to use the same patterns/papers to complete the companion page. However, I took a different design approach and I added my beloved buttons.

Here is a look at my challenge page (and also my third all-digi page!)

Try hard as I might, I am not as comfortable with the digital stuff, so the style departs a little bit from what I am used to. I guess I could have created a paper layout and just used some of the colors on the original page to tie it all in, but since I was already using the typed journaling straight from my blog entry I figured this would be easier. I am sending both pages to a photo developing lab right now. These are two stories I need to have in my albums.

I hope you were able to complete a story. If you did, we would love to see it so remember to tag it WM#21. We miss having you gals play along. I can't wait to see how Lisa took on this challenge. Remember to come back on Monday for a spanking-new challenge.

Oh and I would love feedback on the changes I made to my blog, so pay me a visit and let me know what you think - Daily Pamage.

xo,
Pamage

Challenge #21 Week of 9th January, 2012

Hello again. Your stories are important. I don't get tired of saying it. For that reason I love journaling. The more heartfelt the better. But sometimes we get caught up in the moment of trying out new techniques or playing along in a challenge to use three colors or four photos or five patterned papers -- and we forget to tell the story.

Have no fear. There is still time! You can always go back and complete a story. That is your challenge for this week. I want you to spend a few minutes with old pages (or not so old) and read what you wrote. Now, don't go crazy with this. Just flip until you find a page where you think something is missing. Did you tell the full story? Is it  really complete? Is there something you know now that you didn't then? What else would you like to add now?


With that page and story in mind you can do a few things:


- make a companion page. By using some of the same colors or patterns you can make a single page into a double page spread. Even if you don't have the same papers or embellishments by repeating a theme and style
you can create a cohesive page.


- make a whole new layout. You can use the same photos (yes, the same ones) or others from this event/date/place to add some details to your story. Even if these pages will sit in different albums or places inside an album your overall story will be more complete.


- Add a page of just journaling. As you can see by in my layout last week adding a different sized page of just journaling is a good way to tell a story without altering the design of a Page. Even if you don't have
different sized page protectors you can learn how to make your own using a sewing machine [here]. 


I hope this helps you get started in rethinking how to complete some of these stories before we forget them for good. I have one last request - please don't alter your original in any way! It may seem harder to do but the purpose of this challenge isn't to make you doubt the choices you made back then. I want to inspire you to complete the story!


If you do complete a layout this week please add it to our Flickr group with the tag WM#21. Have a great week.


xo,
Pamage

#20 Inspired by turning points

Happy New Year to all! I am so excited to be sharing another year of scrapping with all of you. Lisa kicked us off with a great topic - Turning points. The new year is a great time to reflect about those turning points we have had in our lives.

As Lisa, I came up with a few ideas for this week's prompt. But I settled on highlighting the fact that I love new beginnings. It came to me while sorting memorabilia in preparation for Stacy Julian's Twelve class. The photo reminds me of a more innocent and inexperienced me who was apprehensive about change. That is no longer true about me. I now welcome new beginnings.  I wanted to document that.

This was the resulting layout -

I kept the embellishing simple because my focus was on the story I was telling and the huge picture. I left some white space in the middle to allow the eye to rest, but now I am second guessing my choice and wonder if I should have butted up the photo and journaling. Anyway, it is done and I am happy with it.

Thanks for looking. I truly hope some of your creative resolutions for 2012 include playing along with us. We would love to have you. If you created a layout featuring one of your turning points please remember to add if to our flick'r group under the lable WM#20.

I will be back later with our new challenge.

xo,
Pamage

#20 Inspired by turning points

When I think back on my life I've so many turning points that I could have chosen for this week's challenge layout but in the end my love of BasicGrey won out! I've saved some of the other ideas for a later time although sometimes I'm missing the photos so I need to get a bit more creative with telling my story too. Does anyone else have that problem? Too many ideas? Layouts to make but no photos? Or maybe even, too big a story for the time you have available? I need to come up with a few strategies for these problems. Any ideas welcome ;-)

Anyway, back to BasicGrey. I kept thinking about when I first started scrapbooking and realised that this was a tiny story that hadn't been told. And as it so happens, I still had some of the very first items I ever bought so the two came together quite nicely. What didn't gel so well was the design of the page. But never mind...

I write about the first time I went to a shop selling scrapbook supplies and how I fell in love with it right there and then. I saw and bought my first BasicGrey on that day and the hoarder that I am, I still had a full sheet of tags and a mini-book thing that I decided had to be used today. The mini-book was falling apart (from age!) and so I cut it apart and used it on my layout to house my journalling and also my little accordion book of photos which are hidden underneath featuring the first 4 layouts I ever made and my most recent four. (What a difference!)  I challenged myself to use all the tags and just made a collage at the bottom of the page with lots of loopy twine and popped my title there.

I feel that something is needed directly below the journalling and the top left corner is awfully bare compared to the jumble of the rest of the page - any ideas?

This is definitely not the best layout I've ever made but it includes product that is about to celebrate its 6th anniversary and records a turning point in my crafty endeavours. Job done!

I'm struggling to find my groove this side of New Year and this layout was a bit of an effort to tell you the truth so I'm really looking forward to seeing what Pam has created and to her challenge which should be up here tomorrow.

Lisa
xxx

Challenge #20 week of 2nd January 2012

Happy New Year!

Not the best photo of the almost hour long display of fireworks from the houses around where we live on Saturday evening but you get the idea :-)

It's 2012! I hope that you had a great Christmas, a fun-filled New Year and are now ready for another year of whimsical inspiration.

I don't know about you but I'm dying to get back into more regular creating after the chaos of the last couple of months and am looking forward to continuing with our weekly prompts as starting points to some fun but meaningful layouts.

Challenge #20 comes courtesy of a note I left on our WM discussion board about the Winter Solstice just before Christmas. At the time, I didn't think anything more of it until Pam asked if I was hinting about a future challenge and then I realised that actually, yes I was!

I commented about the Solstice being a turning point in the year for those of us in the higher (or lower) latitudes. So for me in Germany, it's the shortest day in the year and the start of days getting a little longer each day. I don't mind the short days at all - you know how I LOVE weather and nature - but I love the idea of the perpetual rhythm of nature or how a single moment in time can change the way we feel. Those of you who long for the lengthy summer days will appreciate this I think!

So, this week's challenge is turning points which also seems very appropriate for the first week of a new year. Take it broad or narrow, think about key changes in your life, the seasons, getting older, big decisions or even a tiny one. There's many ways to interpret this.

Looking back, I can see that I've created a few pages over the years about milestones in my life such as:

I can't wait to see the turning points you identify to scrap this week.

Don't forget to link up over at our Flickr group (here) using the tag WM#20.

Once again, Happy New Year and all the best to you and your family for 2012.