Challenge #171 week of 25th May 2015

Here in my corner of the world, we are patiently waiting for summer (although I suspect that a few out there are somewhat impatient!) It feels about time for the sun to decide to come out once and for all, rather than the few hours here and there that we're getting right now. We've had some lovely days but as soon as the sun disappears behind the clouds, the temperature drops and it's time to get out the blanket if we want to sit outside on the balcony.

So in the spirit of waiting for summer, and maybe encouraging it along the way, I'd like you to be inspired by using a sunburst design on your page.

It was a big trend one or two summers ago and one that hasn't completely gone away. I've used it a few times recently using papers with a design that called out to be used in this way such as these:

And then I used created a sunburst here with sunny coloured papers, combining several ideas I'd seen online.

Of course, you could take the inspiration literally and use a sunburst photo.

Wherever you take today's prompt, we love it when you share your creations. Don't forget to load them up at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#171.

Hoping the sun shines down on you this week. :-)

Challenge #170 week of 18th May 2015

After a busy couple of weeks, I've been wondering where my self control has gone.

Self control for time management, for diet, for exercise, for housework - you know, the little things in life!

Which made me think of one rather big problem I have right now... that Cadbury's chocolate sitting in the fridge, mocking me every time I open the door. Alice isn't the only one to be tempted by the lure of "Eat me!".

Then there's the ongoing discussion with sweet Lynnette regarding the state of the international chocolate industry - she's on the US M&Ms side of the sweet stuff whereas I'm pure Cadbury's all the way. Which one is better? Both of us consider that WE have the best of course!

And last week, Counterfeit Kit Challenge fellow Master Forger, Stephanie, was all over the Belgian chocolates in Brussels, Gent and Bruges! Now, there's a reason to visit Brussels, if ever I needed one!

Which brings me to the point... this week, I'd like you to be inspired by chocolate.

Love it or hate it? Cant go through a day without it, or is it your Kryptonite? Do you have a children's story about it or maybe you just want to record a few favourites. Be inspired by the brand colours or the wrapper design. I still refer to a particularly gorgeous silk dress of mine as the Cadbury dress because it's the same royal purple. Perhaps you'd like to compare chocolate of today with that of yesteryear. A day out at a chocolate museum or other sweet location. So much chocolate, so little time!

Here are a few layouts I tracked down about chocolate of one sort or another.

This one is about when Ted and I tested out the child flavoured Lindt chocolate. I came across it yesterday when I was sorting layouts which made me think of it today. Not my best work - not sure if it'll make it into the album or if it'll be relegated to cold storage - but it's a fun memory nonetheless.

This is, of course, about my one and only chocolate love, Cadbury. Mmmmm. And with some of that difficult to use purple product!

And then there's this Easter's Percy Pig easter egg. The chocolate was awful - bleh - but the whole process was such a lot of fun.

I hope you'll share your chocolate creations with us over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#170.

Challenge #169 week of 4th May 2015

Well, (Inter)National Scrapbook Day has come and gone. What did you get up to? Was there much scrapping or creativity in your neck of the woods or were you caught up with regular weekend activities like me? To be fair, I managed to make two layouts yesterday which made up for it a bit but I never seem to really have the time to take the whole day just for scrappy fun. Maybe next year.

Anyway, today's challenge comes courtesy of Starbucks.

I was there a few weeks ago and spotted these pretty shelves full of lovely, spring inspired cups. I especially love the mix of colours but also, those diagonal lines and the hint of ombre. The stronger green is surprising but works so well against the pinks and yellows.

I even rearranged the cups for the second photo to highlight the pretty pink inside the diagonally designed ones.

So, it doesn't matter if you tell me a story about your love of Starbucks, your excessive collection of cups (oh, is that just me?) or your love of spring colours. Whether you use one or all of these colours of if you go for ombre, diagonal geometrics or colour blocks. Take the inspiration how you like and have fun creating this week.

Some of us are participating in LOAD515 which is a Scrap Happy member only one this time around, so I'm sure to be going over some previous prompts here at Whimsical Musings (find previous prompts up at the top of the page) to keep those creative juices flowing.

Don't forget to share your layouts and projects over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#169.