Challenge # 79 - week of February 25th 2013

Hey there cutie, welcome back. I am so glad you've decided to stop by again and join us for another week here at Whimsical Musings.

I rather enjoyed Lisa's prompt last week, getting us to dig deep and find a story to tell rather than inspiration from product, sketch or trends. I love those prompts too but it's really mostly about the stories for me.

So, I will attempt to dig out another story or two from you this week. As yesterday, February 24th would have been my momma's birthday, I have been thinking a lot about life's purpose. Deep, I know.

Don't worry, I won't try to get you to define the purpose of life on a scrapbook page, but rather I want you to think about one thing you (or your chosen subject) was born to do. This can be simple, fun, trivial or deep.

You can choose to tell the story of how your dad was born to change the world of medicine or how your mom was born to bake. You can turn the microscope on yourself and tell us what you were born to do. You can be cheeky and cute and scrap your children's messes with the title "Born to wreak havoc!" or a sweet new infant's photo with "Born to make us smile".

Whichever way you take it, be inspired by and scrap the phrase "Born to ____". Think about how fill in that blank for your ancestors, yourself, your children & pets or someone close to you.

Have a little fun pondering life's purpose this week and make a page in the process. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

xo,

Pamage

ps: sorry this post didn't have a photo as I didn't have anything to include.

#78 inspired by missing someone or something

I was pretty determined to find a different way to go this week - I even talked about this on our Flickr board. But when it came to it, I went the predictable route! However, I think I found an unexpected way to talk about regular periods of missing.

In fact, I came up with a whole list of ideas of ways to take this prompt and they all looked at things from a different perspective. I have to get these ideas written down and work through them as there are several stories that should be told.

But back to the direction I did take...

This is layout #5 from my CKC February kit, Urban and I think I've only scratched the surface of it. It's a BIG kit!

I added in the little wood veneer pieces to my kit - I thought they said a lot without words. Can't get enough of these SC embellies.

What were you missing this week? Don't forget to share over at the Flickr gallery (here) and tune in tomorrow for Pam's new prompt. :-)

#78 Inspired by people we miss

It seems like Lisa and I are completely in sync these days.

I have been feeling super nostalgic. probably for different reasons than Lisa's but still this prompt was perfect to get some of those thoughts and feelings out in the open.

I always say that scrapbooking is my form of therapy. So today you get two layouts - one so serious and one so silly.

the oh-so-serious might not look any less happy than the silly in terms of colors and whimsy, but it certainly expresses my feelings - which is usually not something I am comfortable admitting out loud. I am grateful for paper and glue that allow me to say what I am really feeling.

This uses a sketch from the Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper and because it is the end of the month I am allowed to share it with you.

the oh-so-silly page is the result of the latest afternoon with the little cousins. They are just so cute and the love coming over and playing with me. They are getting so big and smart ... it makes my heart ache a little knowing that when I move out I won't have these afternoons any more. 

I was inspired by Paige Evans' recent page at two peas (actually, everything she does inspires me) and so I decided to pull out all my alphas and create this fun long title which serves as my main journaling too. 

So there you have it, that's what I am missing. Did you get to create a page this week? We would love to see it. And maybe the time isn't right for you to tell this story, but come back and visit this when you are. It is a great story starter.

xo,

Pamage

#78 week of 18th February 2013

It's been a few weeks since I was here to share my prompt but I was happy to make Pam happy and swap her week so that she could have her odd numbers back! While I too am more a fan of odd than even, I was used to my even numbered prompts and you know how it is with a routine :-)

Anyway, it's Monday and I hope you are all well and ready to get going with more creating. 

With LOAD underway (and yes, we are all still missing Pam over there), it's been lovely to see some of you combining daily creativity with some of our older as well as current prompts and of course, I always love to see those Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits being used up. So I hope that you are inspired this week to use my starting point.

After Pam's amazing mood board last week full of bright and happy, I'm taking you along the blue spectrum to think about things or people you miss.

I'm spending waaaay too much time alone right now due to regular inter-continental business trips which leave me on my lonesome back here in Germany. And that means there's a whole lot of missing going on round here. 

With Valentine's Day last week and too much time on my hands to pour over Pinterest (I can't seem to get off that at the moment!), I came across this and it just spoke to me:

Pinterest find {here}

As far as my heart goes, it's very true.

As ever, take this prompt and make it your own. It could be light-hearted or serious, about real people or things in your life or maybe even a favourite TV character or childhood toy. It could even be something in the scrapbooking world. Take it whichever direction you like, you know that we love it when you find a new way to interpret our prompts.

So this week, be inspired by things or people you miss and don't forget to share over at Flickr {here} with the tag WM#78.

#77 inspired by a lovey dovey mood board

Pam delighted us with her mood board this week. I loved it - every bit of it and wanted to get to it all week but as always left it to the last minute and then struggled with the creativity of picking up the bits of inspiration.

But I battled through as best I could and have come up with a layout that I like, but don't love. I will have to see how I feel about it in daylight. I might need to rework it.

But I gave it as good as I could and lifted several of the elements of the board:

• I had a go at the artsy title, using different letter stickers as masks under a whole load of misting (which is not normally my way and I'm distressed at how warped the page is :-)  )
• the colours of the flowers in my little grouping of flowers
• the ombre heart is something I tried to create with my heart punches on a heart background. I've wanted to do something like this for ages, but it was definitely not as successful as the picture I had in my head! 
• sequins for the sparkle picture
• aqua tape to pick up that aqua green in the bottom photo as well as a butterfly as the items hanging on the wall looked like wings to me
• the hearts all punched out
• for the blackboard art, I used the white on black which is an idea I lifted from Lynette - she had used a paper polaroid as a base for a title so I changed it up to make it as a journalling block. (By the way, this is also my take on prompt #76 for instant photos as inspiration. I really wanted to get that prompt done but with my trip, didn't manage it so here it is.)

Tick, tick, tick. Maybe it was all a bit too much for me to try on one page - ha ha! Anyway, my layout is about love. Not just the moonlight and roses Valentine's day type (I make plenty of those as you know). LOL. No, this is another layout for the collection about my love for Chanel. Well, a girl can dream about owning shoes like this, can't she? Maybe I need an album just for this series!

But the mood board idea is most definitely something I will be coming back to. This was a lot of fun to see where the inspiration would take me.

Thanks Pam for making me get messy! I had a great time even if I was a bit disappointed by the results. Let's see how tomorrow feels.

Don't forget to share over at the Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#77.

#77 Inspired by a lovely-dovey mood board

Well, well.

This week I surprised myself.

First, I said how I wouldn't be making a valentine's day page since I am 100% single. Well, I had a date after all!

Second, I have been making pages and feeling 'eh' about them right after I finish. This one, even as it was coming together was making me giddy and the results make me want to hang it up in my room.

Here's a look at the mood board again...

and here's the resulting layout.

 not only did I lift the color scheme exactly (these are my favorite colors anyway) but I found ways to include many of the elements too.

 a blank tag with punched hearts to replicate the crayon art

 white embossed stamps painted over with mists to reveal the title in the fashion of the quote.

 a piece of black cardstock with some stamping with white ink and lots of doodling to hold my journaling and mimic the black board art. I also painted on a few prima flowers since the mood board had a pretty bouquet.

I also sprinkled some sequins since I didn't have glitter. The ombre heart didn't make it to the finished piece but I am so happy with everything else that I was ok leaving it out.

Did you play along this week? Do you have present/past valentine dates to document?

I hope you will share with us. Lisa will be by tomorrow with a new prompt.

xo,

Pamage

Challenge # 77 week of February 11th, 2013

Hello ladies.

This week's challenge was inspired by a free new class at two peas in a bucket: In the Mood to Scrap. It is a weekly series where several artists create a mood board for inspiration and then draw from that to create a layout. I have been super into the idea ... so I thought, why not give it a try myself?

In honor of Valentine's day this week, I decided to come up with a super lovey dovey board. But of course, you can make your layout about whatever you like. In fact, I probably won't be making it about a romantic subject since I am 100% single and don't really celebrate the holiday. But hearts and bright happy colors make me swoon so I love this time of year.

1. // 2. // 3. // 4. // 5. // 6. // 7. 

You can access each image by clicking the links above. I decided to go for a mix of happy colors, hand drawn typography, ombre hearts, glitter, lots of hearts and a touch of trendy blackboard elements... not to mention a few flowers for good measure. I don't know about you but that image just makes me want to scrap. So that is your challenge. Draw inspiration from that collage - from one element or a few or all. 

You may have noticed this week fell out of sequence in our weekly switch-off. But ever since I missed my week in January I have felt off. The truth is I dislike even numbers so I wanted to get back to the odd ones and begged Lisa to let me catch up. Next week we will be back to our regular schedule.

Enjoy and see you on the message boards.

xo,

Pamage

#76 Inspired by instant pictures

Hey there!

I wanted to go the hard route and not use my instax for this one... but for once I had a hard time coming up with a story. Shocker.

Does that ever happen to you? I know there are hundreds of untold stories and yet I have a block. So I visited a few inspiration sources. Not pinned scrapbook pages or "favorites" on flick'r, but actual story starter ideas I've collected. And I ran into a quote which inspired my page and story.

  I made my frames from plain cardstock. I cut out the square for the photo using an exacto knife and then I added splats, watercolors, embossing and stamping for a total custom look. 

 the quote served as my title. since it was long and I wasn't sure what fonts I would be using, I added each word to a separate piece of cardstock. This also helped me play with placement. This is the one tip I would offer anyone trying their hand at mixed-alpha titles. This way you can move things around until they are pleasing to the eye (which is usually when they are really close together). Having to commit to adding all the words straight to the background when you are not sure of the final result seems scary.

 I also added some pop dots and chipboard pieces in the mix to create some dimension and movement.

something cool happened. When I finished this page, I showed it to my grandma - and she complimented me on the photos. She said she really liked all these shots because they showed her natural personality. She wasn't posing for any of them and yet they are all photos I love. Sometimes it pays off to be constantly behind the lens capturing every little detail.

Did you get your instant photo fix this week? We would love to see.

xo,

Pamage

Challenge #76 - week of February 4th, 2013

It is ironic that this prompt comes you a little late this week since the theme this week is all about instant. Yes, you guessed it - instant photos.

It probably isn't a secret to you by now that I absolutely love my {{instax mini}}. There is just something magical about getting photos developed immediately. Instant gratification. But I also love how the frame around the photo adds to the design. Below is a {small} sample of layouts I have completed with my mini photos (trust me there are more; I'm obsessed).

 

But my challenge this week isn't intended to make you run out and buy one of these for yourself or go green with camera envy. I want to bring this challenge to our world to show you other ways you can be inspired by this fun design element.

below are some examples of how I have used this idea of instant photos...

In this page I let the instant frame paper from dear lizzy guide my design and made my own polaroid frames with some craft cardstock.

Almost every one of us has one or two real life polaroids still kicking around in a dusty pile somewhere. 

And if you don't have an instant camera or older prints? Almost every photo editing software lets you add frames to the photos before printing them.

Not to mention that this trend is blowing up in the scrapbooking product market.

Source: studiocalico.typepad.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Source: studiocalico.com via Sexysaddie on Pinterest

So, your challenge this week is to be inspired by instant photos. And with the many choices (stamps, die cuts, patterned papers, old polaroids, instax, printed photos with frame or handmade frames) you are certain to find some way to incorporate this fun trend.

I will challenge myself not to use my instant camera but rather find a new way to explore this inspiration.

Good luck and join us on the message board to discuss your ideas. We love chatting with you.

xo,
Pamage

#75 inspired by decorated bags

LOAD is in full swing and I don't know about you, but I'm missing our Pam over there :-(

But it does mean that I got my layout for today finished early and in a more relaxed way than usual.

I wanted to use my new Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Urban, and the original kit had a small chevron printed bag which I loved. I didn't have anything like it but wanted something similar so this challenge gave me the push to have a go.

I used some coloured vellum and then happened upon a small chevron stamp in a Christmas set which seemed ideal to use on the bag. Rather than going for a colour, I thought the white embossing would stand out against the softer shade of the vellum. I was right - I love how it turned out.

I stamped and embossed three more little chevron designs across the page and adore the white on white effect it created.

I love creating my own little bags and envelopes and this was just the nudge I needed to do it again. I'm often too lazy to take the time. I decorated it up a little with a doily and a few little items from the kit and called it finished. I filled it with my journalling - a perfect mix of visible but private.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge February kit, Urban #1

It may not have turned out as elaborate as the original and I might come back to it again to have another go at the layering that Christine Middlecamp achieved on her bags, but I'm still happy with the result.

I'm sure you've got bags or envelopes in bottom of your stash so why not drag them out and make them have pride of place on your project!

Don't forget to share over at out Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#75 and tune in tomorrow to see what Pam has in store for us ;-)

#75 inspired by the use of envelopes

I use envelopes from time to time on pages, but usually I use them to hide my journaling. I have never made them the focal point of my page, so this challenge had my wheels turning. I also wanted to do the layering on the samples some justice so I knew I had my work cut out for me.

I knew just the envelope for this. My December Daily kit from Kelly Purkey came with a large (6.5x6.5 I think) vellum with glitter envelope.

For my design I went with funky triangles which is a trend I have been spotting. I used a bunch of bright scraps with a few added craft papers. I stuffed my envelope to overflowing with memorabilia and threw in a bunch of confetti for good measure. 

Then, of course, came the layering of the front of the envelope. I wanted to do something dimensional and full of textures but in the end I just used a few die cuts in the right colors and scattered a few buttons and called it good. Overall I like how it turned out.

there wasn't enough room for a title or more photos so I made it a double spread. You can see additional images of the two pages together by visiting the gallery. Really curious to see how you used envelopes this week. Please remember to link us up in the gallery.

xo,

Pamage