Challenge #267 - week of 24th July 2017

Summer, it would seem, is in full swing. School is over, people are going on holiday, the sun is out - more or less. I'm still working but I know that many of you are making the most of this sunny time of year to slow down and take some time out.

So, let's have a summery colour scheme this week to get our summer layouts going.

I'd like you to be inspired by this deck chair colour scheme.

{ color holiday } image via: @zoepower / Design Seeds

As always, Design Seeds have the best seasonal photos and this combination of blues, red and shingle is one that we haven't featured before. It's still summer but fresh and feels more sophisticated than the bright candy colours we've been inspired by before. I particularly love that dark grey blue next to the bright red.

Be inspired by the photo or stay true to the colours. Either way, I'm sure there's a way for you to incorporate this week's prompt into your summer scrapping and we'd love to see.

Share over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery here with the tag WM#267 or at our Whimsical Musings Facebook group  also using the tag WM#267.

Have a great week everyone!

Challenge #266 - week of 17th July 2017

Did you see?!!?

I not only posted an older prompt layout last week (WM#261 - inspired by loss) but I also managed to get the most recent prompt page done too! (WM#265 - inspired by bees). I'm feeling pretty good about that.

One of the main reasons that I managed it last week is that our wonderful Whimsical Musings friend, Pam, challenged me to play along with the Shimelle 25 days of scrapbooking words which runs from 7th through to the end of July. The timing is pretty good for me and so far, I'm on track with a layout for each of the word based challenges. If you're not already playing along, why not join in. It's really low pressure and I'm loving it. And it's always better to play along with friends, isn't it?

I'll be sharing a few more of my layouts soon as many of them have been made with my trusty Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits. Great to see them getting used up. Double win.

I was tidying up my desk yesterday when my eye fell on a wonderfully pretty pocket page that I received out of the blue from my sweet fellow CKC Master Forger and long time internet friend, Clair (find her glorious makes over on her blog here).

I don't think I managed to share it yet and so I took it into some better light to take a few photos. One of the "things" with pocket letters is that you should include some mini goodies for the recipient and sure enough, tucked in and behind the pockets are a handful of typical Clair items!

Sprinkles and sparkles...

a hand-beaded element...

some tiny banners...

a cute clip...

and some stamped and fussy-cut labels and tickets.

I emptied them out and realised that this would be perfect for today's prompt.

I'd like you to be inspired by labels.

Of course, the obvious route to go this week is to get happy with labels on your project.  I have a sheet of paper from the Memorandum collection which I am using purely for cutting out the pre-printed labels - love how they are turning out. There are a myriad of label supplies and printables that you could use on your pages - use them for journalling, use them for the title, use them for the date, use them just for decoration! Or maybe you have a labelling story that you'd like to capture? Cute home-made labels for jars of jam or how you reorganised your space and had fun labelling everything. Perhaps you have a story about being labelled as something or other and how true/untrue that is.

As ever, I think there's different ways to take this prompt and I'm excited to see what you make.

If you'd like you can share your layout with us over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#266 or you can post it in our Whimsical Musings Facebook group again with the tag WM#266.
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WM#265 - be inspired by bees

I've been thinking about this layout all week - mulling it over, thinking about how to tell my story, considering which photos to use.

Today I made it happen. Go me!

I was challenged by our wonderful Whimsical Musings bestie, Pam, to play along with Shimelle's 25 days of scrapbooking words so this layout also features "so much colour" - a colourful title. We are both on track with at least one layout each day since July 7th and are scrapping up a storm. It's simply glorious to be scrapping "with" her again after so long.

Along with the Shimelle challenge, I've been using up some much older Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits and today I killed my September 2016 kit, Sundance with this layout. That also feels good and that now means that I "only" have 5 kits left to finish off - yes, still too many.

Here's my layout for WM#265 - be inspired by bees.

Using my Counterfeit Kit Challenge September 2016 kit, Sundance, lo#10

I wanted to tie the story of our balcony to the observation of the increasing bee traffic which makes me happy and is something that's been increasingly on my mind over the last few years.

I created the design of the page before deciding on which photos to use on the centre panel. I then went to town with the journalling, printing it out to save space, and finally embellishments. It took my longer than it should have because I was faffing a bit but finishing off the kit brought this together more quickly than others in the last week.

Overall, I'm really happy with this and the story captured. Win, win.

I'd love to know if you've recorded something inspired by this - or in fact any other - prompt. Don't forget you can share in the following ways!

Use the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#XXX 
or post in our Whimsical Musings Facebook group with the tag WM#XXX

WM#261 - be inspired by loss

I know I'm not the only one who uses scrapbooking to work through feelings and emotions and this prompt was perfect for exactly that.

I created a page about the loss of someone very important in the life of my family. And it really did help.

I used my June Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit "Blush", and picked out the darker elements from what at first glance is a colourful collection of product, to bring a quieter, calmer feel to my page. It's simple and to the point. The meaning in the page is there for me to see and understand. The design is simple and classic. It felt right.

Were you inspired to have a little creative therapy using this prompt? I'd love it if you shared your creations with us.

Use the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#XXX 
or post in our Whimsical Musings Facebook group with the tag WM#XXX

Challenge #265 - week of 10th July 2017

10th July marks "Don't Step on a Bee Day" which I was reminded about on Facebook by the Royal Mail who posted photos of some gorgeous stamps they had released in 2015 (find the post here).

I'm hearing more and more about the endangered status of the humble but oh so important bee and therefore...

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by bees.

Many many years ago, the very first Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit I played along with featured bees and I made a very bulky but sweet layout using the print outs that had been included on the blog along with the inspiration.

I really need to redo this layout - love the photos, love the sentiment but it's waaaay too bulky!

Bees featured on the BasicGrey paper which I know that I've used at least once.

Maybe you have a story to tell about filling your garden with bee-friendly flowers or your own attitude to the problems bees are facing at the moment. Do you have bee hives or is this a dream you have that could be captured this week? Or maybe you just have some bee-themed product you could use on your project.

Whichever way you see the inspiration this week, I'd love you to tell us where it took you. If you'd like you can share your layout with us over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#265 or you can post it in our Whimsical Musings Facebook group again with the tag WM#265.

Challenge #264 - week of 3rd July 2017

It's July. Shocking but true. And I know this sounds dramatic but I've already noticed the mornings are getting ever so slightly darker. It would appear that the days really are getting a little shorter. I love the flow of the seasons.

Anyway, onto today's challenge.

Time for a prompt based on product and one of my go to items to finish off a layout. In fact, Shimelle posted that she has a small basket full of gems, dots and pearls that she used to finish off her gorgeous creations so maybe that's what brought it to mind just now. Or perhaps due to the fact that I finished off three cards earlier this evening with a sprinkle.

Whatever, this week, I'd like you to be inspired by enamel dots.

Add one or a whole packet. Make your own. Use shapes or sparkly ones or wood effect ones. Whichever way you use them, for me they really are the perfect finishing touch.

Here's just a few details of enamel dots I've used recently.

Whichever way you see the inspiration this week, I'd love you to tell us where it took you. If you'd like you can share your layout with us over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#264 or you can post it in our Whimsical Musings Facebook group again with the tag WM#264.