Challenge #273 - week of 23rd October 2017

My! These weeks are flying by...

I haven't found any time recently to make any pages at all :-( but I have a free day tomorrow so fingers crossed for some creative time for me. How are you doing right now?

I'm going to keep it short this week and pick a topic from my standby list of possible future prompts - sometimes, I can be a bit organised!

I'm not a big technique person which you might have got to know about me over the years, but the trend of hand lettering is definitely all over the crafting world right now so let's go in that direction.

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

If you're like me, you might be challenged in this department and you might think about stamps, digital stamps, die cuts, digital (Silhouette Cameo etc) die cuts, patterned paper or even an alpha set which have a hand written design. Or maybe you've perfected the art of hand lettering yourself - and if so, would you like to teach me?!? - and can include your own creations on your project. You might even take this in the direction of recording your process of learning to hand letter or how you've worked to improve your own handwriting. Maybe your child's progress in learning to write is a topic for your page. There are definitely different ways to take this.

Here are some examples of my use of this technique on my pages - not a single one features my own writing which is probably a good thing!

I've used this Silhouette cut file by Loni Stevens several times 

This paper was so fabulous I got a couple of sheets and love using them. Such pretty writing

What's not to love with this brush lettering font alpha?

And I couldn't resist using this Loni Stevens cut file as an oversized title.

You can add your photos to our Facebook group here - we love it when you share so please don't be shy!

Challenge #272 - week of 16th October 2017

It's been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks round here with at least one first for me!

We were invited to an Oktoberfest party a few weeks ago (yes, we've had a prompt for Oktoberfest before WM#188 so that's not our inspiration today - not directly at least) and then we had a themed dinner here at home - "A trip to Edinburgh".

I was reluctant at first to get into the spirit of these events as I thought it might be a bit silly for me, as an English girl, to get dressed up in traditional Bavarian dress - as you might know, it's typical for women to wear Dirndl in Bavaria. But then I came across some Lederhosen for women and decided to go for it. I've captured this on a couple of pages already.... Anyway, for our Scottish evening, I didn't really want to get a new outfit and then we discovered that Edinburgh's partner city is ... Munich! An idea was born and once again, my Lederhosen were worn for a quirky touch to the evening. My DH got himself a kilt and we completed the full switching of stereotypes - a German man wearing a Scottish skirt and a British woman wearing German trousers. There was much laughter and a lot of fun was had.

So, what's that got to do with us here at Whimsical Musings? Well, this week I'd like you to be inspired by national dress.

Maybe you've got a story to tell about where you come from, the pride in national dress that exists there or in your family. How about school projects where children have to dress up as different nationalities. The colours can be pretty inspiring too - that could be the place to start. Or a particular design feature - those Dirndl for example can be pretty gorgeous for sure with the embroidery, details, colours and fabrics. Perhaps there's a family story to tell about a particular item of national dress. I hope you find a way to get inspired this week.

You can add your photos to our Facebook group here and I'm still promising to try to keep up with the prompts but a week's gone by and I haven't managed my concert inspired layout from last week so let's see how that works out this week!

Challenge #271 - week of 9th October 2017

Oh dear! It's been weeks - literally - since I managed to post here.

I'm not going to try to offer excuses, just know that it's not because I don't want to!

I have actually tried to work on the last prompt here (WM#270 - be inspired by an unexpected stash find) and was somewhat totally unsuccessful so that's still on my scrap table to try to rescue - I'll share it when I do. In the meantime, let's just carry on where we left off and take it from there.

Last Friday, I ventured out alone to a small, club-venue concert to see Justin Nozuka. It was fantastic and I loved every minute of it - he's an amazing artist. I can't remember the last time I went to such a small intimate concert and it definitely made me feel a bit old! But I wasn't the oldest there so that made me feel a bit better. I've been a huge fan for a very long time (first single purchased and fell in love with back in March 2007) and have only come across one other person who has even heard of him (WM friend Pam over in NYC) so it was great to be among fans of his songwriting and unusual voice. I'm still on a bit of a high.

Which got me thinking to our prompt and this week I'd like you to be inspired by concerts.

I recently (gulp - it felt like recently but was actually December last year!) made a layout about a particularly memorable concert when I had the ultimate luck to get to see David Bowie on his Serious Moonlight tour back in 1983. In fact, I need to update this layout because I came across the precious concert ticket which I'd like include on the layout in some way (perhaps just a scan, not sure right now!).

I've also recorded several Elton John concerts over the years - my husband and I have limited mutual middle-ground music but I have learnt to totally love Elton since the early days and we get to see him whenever we can! Of course I can't find a picture of a layout right now but if I track it down, I'll be sure to share!

So you could follow my lead and record a momentous concert you got to see at some point in your life. Or you could scrap about any concert - pop, rock, classical, school, brass band, choir, whichever takes your fancy! - that you have attended. Maybe you didn't get to see a concert that you wanted to or is there someone you'd like to see in concert one time in your life that's a total bucket list item. You might be a proud mummy who attends plenty of school concerts of varying quality which might bring  back fabulous, emotional or something less than positive memories! How about participating in a concert if you're a musical genius? I think there are several different ways to take this prompt.

Anyway, if you're still here and still following along, I'd love you to be inspired by concerts and to share any creations that you make.

You can add your photos to our Facebook group here and I promise to try to keep up with the prompts! It's LOAD month so I might even get a layout or two done with WM prompts. Watch this space. :-)