Challenge #75 week of 28th January 2013

I'm slowly getting back to regular crafting and have cut up some pretty papers several times this week. Ah, now that makes me happy!

And LOAD213 starts next Friday so we will have to see where that takes me. I'm not sure if I will complete the whole month but once I start, you never know. I do know that I'll be missing my partner in crime (that's you, Pam!!) so it just won't be the same over there. :-(

But I know that several of you will be scrapping through February so no doubt we will still have a lot of fun together.

But on to this week's prompt. I've been spending WAY too much time over on Pinterest - it goes through phases with me and right now, it's just highly addictive! And yesterday, I spotted these beauties.

I'm a huge fan of Christine Middlecamp - I simply love every single thing she creates. She is certainly one of my Scrap Heroes! These little bags (that she designed for Valentine's Day but don't let that restrict you) caught my eye and I decided that this week, I'd like you to try and use bags on or for your project.

Brown paper, white paper, vellum, transparent, filled, decorated, on a page or to be given as gifts - there's SO many ways to take this idea.

As you can see from the gorgeous projects below, Christine has gone the small brown paper bag loaded up with cute cluster embellishments route and I think this would look totally adorable on a page, perhaps to house journalling. Don't you just love all the bits and pieces she has layered up here and those happy colours. Perfect for a grey dreary January day.

Found via Pinterest but originally by Christine Middlecamp - Retrospection (blog post here)

Found via Pinterest but originally by Christine Middlecamp - Retrospection (blog post here)

Found via Pinterest but originally by Christine Middlecamp - Retrospection (blog post here)

Found via Pinterest but originally by Christine Middlecamp - Retrospection (blog post here)

If you join in this week (or any other prompt - please feel free to go back over older prompts, there's no deadline round here), make sure you share your creation with us over at our Flickr group (here) with the tag WM#75! Each week we can't wait to see what you've all created :-)

Have a great week everyone.

#74 inspired by bold patterns & colours

Well, Pam knows how to stretch us, doesn't she?

This week she asked us to mix and (not) match bold, bright patterns and colours. Now, I'm not exactly afraid of bright colours or bold prints but I might only use a bit of one and then mix it in with something smaller, softer or more neutral. So this was a biggie for me this week.

I knew exactly where to look for my first bright print. I'm such a sucker for BasicGrey (as if you didn't know) and pick up almost everything they produce. But June Bug was always just a bit too bright for me. And I've hardly used any of it. So that was going to be my first choice.

This was the paper I picked out - get the sunglasses out-

And then I wanted to really follow the prompt and went to my older paper box to find a print from another company (I keep all my BG separate from everything else. Yes, control freak, what can I say?). And there amongst all the softer prints was this one from Tinkering Ink. I've never really known what to do with these overpowering flowers so I cut them out and decided to use them as a border along the side.

Another couple of items from BG June Bug to give it some connection and the base was ready for a simple photo. Another one of those photos that I have taken and printed out for no reason. I love finding a meaning to them on my pages.

I then decided that if the base was going to be so bright and powerful, I should just continue with going a bit over the top and create some blingy corners and a cluster using some really really old stuff. In fact, the only new stuff on this layout is the veneer camera and person, and the tapes. Even the kraft cardstock is the B-side to some Kraft Kuts papers from Fancy Pants that I had to have but have never used.

The strong colours and lines support the theme of my journalling about the year ahead which I realised as I was going along and helped me pull everything together in a way that makes sense to me (even if it's a bit higgeldy piggeldy for you).

Now this may not be my favourite layout of all time, but it was great to cut into these two old pieces of paper and not worry about whether they go together or not. Personally, I think they really don't go together but I don't even notice that anymore now that the layout is finished.

Thanks Pam for another stretching challenge and for getting me to jump over my own shadow :-)

Don't forget to share your bold creations over at our Flickr group (here) using the tag WM#74.

#74 Inspired by Bold Patterned Papers

Challenging you guys to do something puts double the challenge on me to deliver. Although I do this often, this week I put the pressure on myself to find the boldest, brightest, craziest patterns and make a layout. But shortly into my adventure I realized I don't have anything like that in my stash, because that isn't my style. 

What I do have are lots of tone on tone papers in bright happy colors. So that's what I went with.

I created two layouts that I am happy with. As far as Big, bold and clashy? You can be the judge of that.

 my first page focused on black and white photos taken over a period of 4 years. I wanted to focus on the similarities in the photos and not become distracted by colors and quality of the photos. I love the classic feel to this page [of course with my added whimsical touches]. I normally wouldn't mix florals with numbers, so that was my clashy moment for this page.

 for my second page I wanted to play on how bright and bold my niece is, I love that the patterned paper actually matched the dress she is wearing. although the yellow spotty paper seems to match this page nicely, it is not a combination I would easily make. I have had that paper in my stash for over 4 years and been afraid to use it for it's boldness. And of course, mixing florals is a no-no, but in this case I think it reinforces the motif and grounds the photo. Although all three papers are Scenic Route, I would have never thought to put them together - and yet this page makes them seem like they were meant for each other.

 do you think I was brave enough this week with my mixing and matching or did it seem like my regular old stuff? I will admit that being so colorful and willing to mix all the time made it difficult to find papers out of my comfort zone. 

If you were bold and daring this week I hope you will share with us on the gallery.

xo,

Pamage

Challenge # 74 - Week of January 21st, 2012

Another week is upon us.

And I know we have had a slow start to this year, but we are not slowing down on the prompts. So keep checking back and once you are up to it again, jump right back in. We will be waiting for you.

My challenge for this week was inspired by a layout I made (which I still can't share with you) which used the two papers below.

the doodlebug paper can be found {here} and the basic grey paper {here}

I know what you might be thinking - those patterns don't match. And perhaps they don't. They are big and bold , statement patterns with totally different motifs and styles. One from a classic line and the other from a vintage beach line. Maybe mixing them is a faux pas in the world of fashion and design. But that is what is so great about our craft - we can do what we want! I actually love my page( will share next weekend) and it turned out ok.

Your challenge, if you chose to accept it is to mix two or more Big, Bold patterns from two different lines and manufacturers. Be risky and brave. You can do this. Take it up a notch and break other myths, such as don't mix florals or dots with stripes. 

A tip when using these papers and not letting your pictures get lost in the mix: add a white or black mat around the photos to frame them and separate them.

I leave you with an example of a well-executed bold pattern mixing.

Source: hamblyscreenprints.typepad.com via Pam on Pinterest

xo,

Pamage

#73 inspired by organisation

I'm the same every year. I vow that this will be the year when I manage true organisation in my life. Every year I fail miserably. But I do think that it gets a tiny bit better.

And there's parts of my life where I am totally over organised. Clothes, kitchen, cleaning stuff, decorations. Well mostly anyway! And then there's the items which I love to organise when I have time and space. Books, CDs, films, filing, my scrapbook papers.

But there's not a lot of time and space has not been allocated for a lot of stuff yet. So, yet again, organising is on the list for this year. You never know, 2013 might be the year! I try to get these types of jobs done in small 15 or 30 minute chunks when I'm here alone and therefore, I might manage a few more of those than usual this first half year.

And I'm not the only one like this in the house. There's someone else who gives the impression of being so controlled, so tidy, so structured but is very much like me! And so when I walked round our home taking photos (thinking I would do a new house post), something very much caught my eye and it just summed up this side of our control freak vs disorganised characteristics!

The result was this layout for which I went back to my delicious October 2012 Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Brighter. This is the 9th layout from that kit and I'm sad that maybe I can manage to squeeze one more layout out of the box. But the layout makes me laugh. No doubt you think we are crazy!

Ok, so these 3's are not so good for e's but I had four sets of these tiny letters and not a single e in either case and these the only 3's left too. Why oh why don't they give us more e's???

Not only are we both disorganised, we are both collectors. And this is one of his. This collection has reduced. A lot. Ha ha! But it's still broader than most bars you can go into. And I have to say that I do get the benefit of receiving the best Cosmopolitan in the world on a regular basis.

And then, because my room is very much on my mind and I don't really know where to start, I decided to use my September CKC kit, Packing, to just make a layout that might help to keep me motivated about getting my room the way I want. I am busy collecting some ideas from Pinterest, but this is it right now. The two close ups are there to show me how I don't want to use my wonderful Expedit shelves. I want my room to look stylish and pretty and creative. At the moment, it just looks a bit stuffed. I couldn't resist adding some cute effects to my photos to pretty them up a bit.

For ease, I've been using a lot of sketches over the last week or so and this is one from Creative Scrappers#244.

There's more layouts in my head for this prompt and I'm excited to see where this has taken you too.

Hope you share over at our Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#73.

Have a good week everyone.

#73 - inspired by organization

It is ironic than on organization week I feel more disorganized than ever.

I guess that is how it works.

I had to really pull it together this week to bring you a layout and so I changed up the size, used only one photo and kept it super simple. But I got it done. If you have been struggling to kick start your creative year I suggest you give yourself a break and keep it simple until you find your groove again.

And here is my page.

and there you have it. I hope you found some time this week to get your Whimsical Musings layout checked off your to-do list. *wink*

xo,

Pamage

Challenge #73 week of 14th January 2013

How's your January going?

Are you the type who makes resolutions? Or maybe you have a word á la Ali Edwards "One Little Word"? Or maybe you're like me and make a more general list of goals for the year for the direction you'd like the year to take?

I've also become a fan of the list that Pam does each year for her birthday, even though I was rubbish at it last year and hardly managed anything!

So, I am working on my word and my list, and still have to tweak my aims for the year but I am certain that at least one or two items will be around organisation. And I think that many of us have high hopes for organisation at the beginning of the year.

In fact, today we have National Organise Your Home Day and National Clean Off Your Desk Day which always inspires me to get moving on all those tidy up tasks. I have a long way to go before I reach the level of organisation I'd like to achieve, so I'm constantly on the lookout for ideas of what to do and how to do it.

Now I know this seems a bit of a random challenge, but this week I want you to be challenged by organisation!

There's different ways you could translate this onto your page.

• You could use this prompt as a chance to reorganise a few of your stash items and then use them  to create a page. 
• You could make a page about the organisation process itself. 
• Maybe use the prompt to make a page about resolutions/goals that incorporate some element of organisation. 
• What about a page about this aspect of your character? I could talk about how disorganised I am!
• Or maybe you could make a page and pay attention to how you do it so that you can identify if your stash is organised in a way to support that process. (I'm constantly moving my stuff around as I realise that I reach for certain items in a certain way.)

I have my craft room right at the top of my list of things to organise within the next couple of weeks and there's a whole lot of inspiration out there for all aspects of organisation.

*sigh* love this look. Pinterest find.

Am really interested in this... 52 weeks to success? Pinterest find.

If only I could keep to this! Pinterest find.

And I recommend this book if you can get your hands on it - it really helped me identify how I scrap and therefore how I should organise my scrapbooking products though I need to go through the process again as I have changed a lot since then.

#72 inspired by bling, confetti and glitter

Well, I'm determined to catch up with everything as soon as I can on the prompts I've missed recently and there is a long list to be honest. Thank you to everyone for being so patient with me. I appreciate each and every one of you and even when I haven't been around, I've been thinking of you and try to get to our Flickr group as often as I can even if I don't manage to comment.

Life has not exactly calmed down round here but I am trying to just keep my head above water and make time for the things that make me happy and that most certainly includes Whimsical Musings and playing with paper.

I made a decision to leave the TV off yesterday evening and sat here looking for inspiration. It came to me from my Counterfeit Kit Challenge December page kit, Anticipate. I had posted about it on my blog and had intended to make a page about our Advent wreath tradition to include. I even had a note in my post to remind where to post the photo. Of course, I totally forgot and didn't manage to get my hands on any of my scrap supplies after I came back from our trip in December. So that was the first thing that needed to be checked off. I had the photos selected and printed so it was just a matter of picking up my kit and making it work for the prompt (immediately forgetting the original blog post also had a sketch to use!). And as the WM prompt was all about sparkle, it was perfect for this Christmas layout. I am a firm believer that everyone needs a whole lot of sparkle at that time of year.

I added in a sheet of white cardstock, glitter and sequins to match the photos and the prompt. I think this matches the prompt enough ;-) I included glitter slodges, glimmer mist, sequins, silver ink and some shimmery fabric. Ha ha, talk about overload!

CKC December page kit, Anticipate #1

So, being on a roll and thinking about how I had commented on the Flickr board that I had a sequin story to tell from my dressmaking days, I decided to carry on and finish a second page for this story. I love the way that our prompts or other inspiration pushes me into telling my story in small manageable chunks. If I ever get to put my layouts into albums, it will be interesting to see how that adds up and what bits are missing.

CKC January kit, Renew, #2

What a perfect prompt for this dull time of year. I was smiling all the time I made these two layouts.

Thanks Pam for making this week so easy for me :-)

#72 inspired by bling, confetti & glitter

Bling? Check. Confetti? Check. Glitter? Check. 

Although the layout is not all jazzed out, it is pretty sparkly right down to the subject.

I chose really bold colors to help the black and white photos shine. I didn't have to worry about matching the silver since it is a neutral and goes with everything.

I hand-drew the main part of my title and added some stickles to it for a little extra shine.

I also found those square beads in my stash. I didn't even know I had those but this was the perfect opportunity to use them to embellish this page. I love non-traditional embellishments.

The reference to "29/30" is to reference my list of "29 things to do before 30". 

Did you jazz up your pages this week? A little? A lot?

I can't wait to see.

xo,

Pamage

#71 Inspired by Goodbyes

mid-week post to try and catch up around here. It seems that the flu was more disruptive than the Holidays, but take it from me - it isn't fun being sick over the Holidays. Thankfully, health has been restored to my household and my energy is back full force.

So here are the two ideas I had when Lisa posted this prompt executed.

 

 

this was my goodbye to a full year. I did a separate project, choosing a photo I loved from each month (you can check that out over on my blog here). 

For this page, I just chose those same pictures and printed them 2x2 for an easy grid.

this second layout is more fun and whimsical. I knew the post would be due on the Sunday my best friend would be going home after a lovely holiday here with me. So I wanted to do a photo documenting our last day photos. This is a tradition (you can check out another page I have done documenting this here).  I used limited supplies and even colors but I feel the pictures pop more because of it.

Hope you had a fine time saying goodbye to the last year and are ready to take on some challenging prompts from us in 2013.

For those of us that said sad/hard goodbyes in 2012, I truly hope you receive comfort and strength to remember the good things about those times and have gratitude for the memories.

xo,

Pamage