Challenge #120 week of 27th January 2014

Let's change pace a little today.

We've had a few more subject / thoughtful based prompts the last couple of weeks and I know that at least a few of you are preparing for LOAD in February - whether that's official on your side or not, and you might appreciate something a little less demanding!

With that in mind, I'm going to offer you a sketch this week. It's a sketch which I absolutely love from Creative Scrappers. Ok, who am I kidding? I love everything that Creative Scrappers comes up with! I featured #259 on my 14 loves {January 2014} earlier this month and am in love with all the grid designs they are coming up with right now. So, here's another one!

Source - Creative Scrappers 

Look at that great block in the middle filled with all those little Instagram friendly squares and space for embellishments. Lots of journalling? No problem with the areas in the grid or even the emptier space either side of the grid. I love it. This is a sketch I will definitely be giving a go and I hope you will too.

Link up your sketchy interpretations over at our Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#120.

Challenge #119 week of 20th January 2013

For our friends stateside, today marks Martin Luther King Jr Day and I'd like to use this to direct our prompt today. Something a bit more serious perhaps than last week's inspiration from housework.

Let's take civil rights as inspiration today. There are many ways to think about this more meaty subject which cover all aspects of our life and which might deserve a reference in your scrapbooks. Of course, Martin Luther King Jr pioneered the African-Amercial Civil Rights Movement using non-violent methods. His words or work could inspire your page. Or you could look back to the 60s when it was active and consider how older generations faced and dealt with it. However, there are are so many more aspects of civil rights that could have a significance in your life and which might need a reference in your scrapbooks - rights for women's votes, religious or sexual freedom, the right to an education or workplace equality.

Martin Luther King Jr - leader of the Afro-American Civil Rights movement

Emmeline Pankhurst - leader of the British Suffragette movement

Of course, this is a heavy topic and you could just take it as a chance to record what you take for granted in life today which your parents couldn't. You could talk about what freedoms you have in your country that you might not have in other places. You could use "I have a dream" to drive your page.

We'd love to see your creations over at our Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#119.

Challenge #118 week of 13th January 2013

Here at Whimsical Musings, we try to change things up a little, mixing in technique, subject, product or more off-the-wall type prompts. And I was just about to put a colour scheme that had called out to me on Pinterest, when I realised I'd given us a colour based (Pantone Colour of the Year) challenge last week. Back to the drawing board. Of course, organisation in terms of a list of possible prompts would be a really good place to start to avoid this kind of thing... another thing for the list!

Anyway, here I am looking around me and wondering if there's anything right in front of me that could be interesting for us today. I'll save that gorgeous colour scheme for another day....

I have it. Something that was given to me for my birthday and certainly sums me up.

Are you a "Putzteufel" or more of a "Putzmuffel" (no real translation for either of these but don't you just love these words! Literally a housework devil or a housework grump!) We all have to do it to a greater or lesser degree even if we have some help along the way. And I really can't be bothered to make the time for it when there are pretty papers and embellies to be played with, good TV to watch or friends to meet. I know quite a few Putzteufel and they make me feel very inadequate when I see them cleaning house at 7am before work, but that's just not me. I do a bit of Flylady from time to time and am a huge advocate of the clean sink and the 15 minute rule but then I tend to let it slip until I have hours just to get on top of it all. And there's only the two of us in the house!

So.... be inspired by housework in some way. Your attitude to it, something you love/hate to do, how you distribute tasks among the other members of your household, a story about your mum or granny and how different their attitude to housework is, compare your housework time to how it was in the past - even your own past, or what about a piece of housework equipment (does anyone remember Stacy J talking about her iron layout?). Maybe you are just inspired by the retro design of my coaster.

However this inspiration moves you this week, be sure to share your creations over at our Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#118.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mountain (literally) of ironing to work through.

Challenge #117 week of 6th January 2014

Welcome back and I hope you all had a wonderful New Year celebration and are ready to tackle another year of whimsical, inspirational prompts. We love seeing you here and hope to engage with you more in 2014.

I have been creating and intend to try to get back on track with creating layouts using my own prompt here at Whimsical Musings - let's see how that goes! :-)

There's a lot of internet chatter about the Pantone colour for 2014, Radiant Orchid and I just did a search on Pinterest and there are pages and pages of gorgeous images (see here) with this fabulously rich, vibrant shade.

Pinterest source here

Now, I'm not a big fan of purple but even I find myself drawn to Radiant Orchid so I'd like to challenge you to be inspired by it in some way.

Use the colour itself - a lot or just a little; look at the images on Pinterest; make a page about colour; make a page about trends. Whichever direction you take, this is an on-trend tone and I'm sure you can find some inspiration in there somewhere.

I hope you will share your layout or project with us over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#117.