Challenge #304 - week of 24th September 2018

Welcome back to another week of inspiration and I have to say that I've done a couple of pages recently that I need to share so watch this space for proof that I actually DO make layouts from time to time - even using my own challenges!

This week I'm going old school. Back to a product that I loved - and actually still love - to use on almost every single layout. It's an everyday product from almost all of our gardens or kitchens and that found a lovely way of embellishing our pages and I soon had a huge variety of different colours, thicknesses and textures.

Be inspired by twine.

There was a time when I got through yards and yards and yards of cream or white or natural twine every month as I wrapped it around every page and scrunched it up and made big floppy bows! These days, not so much but I really like the look of it. I just forget to use it.

I use it for my banners,

and for threading through buttons for more detail and texture,

and of course, wrapping around the whole width of a page or an element. 

It's also perfect on small formats too

You might have some coloured examples, thick, thin or metallic to use on your pages. You might want to thread it though buttons, wrap it round an element, tie a knot at the top of a tag or make a messy bunch as a feature. Maybe you want to use it to lace something up or join things together. Perhaps you have some product that features twine in printed form. You could have a story about something getting tied up with twine or string or what about something that's being strung along! I think you can find ways of talking about twine even if you don't want to use it as a product itself.

I'd love to see where this takes you this week and of course, if you are inspired, I hope that you'll share. You can do that in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken. 

Or simply tell us in the comments where to find you... :-)

Challenge #303 - week of 17th September 2018

I'm a sight-seeing type of girl and I've been doing a whole lot of it right here in Germany in the last few months. And of course being a scrapbooker, I take a lot of photos and try to capture some of the details that catch my eye.

This last weekend I was visiting a local Schloss (stately home) and the sun streaming through a stained-glass window gave me one of the best photos of the weekend.

So, this weekend I'd like you to be inspired by stained-glass.

Here are just a selection of just the most beautiful examples of coloured glass...

The library at Schloss Herrnsheim

The stately home of Schloss Drachenburg

The domed ceiling at Galleries Lafayette in Paris

Les Invalides in Paris

The Cologne Cathedral 

Windows can be difficult to capture well on a photo so I try to find different ways of showing their beauty and they are to be found everywhere - not just in churches and cathedrals.

You might have a set of sightseeing photos you'd like to use this week or maybe you'd like to use them in a metaphorical way to talk about something different. You could use a die-cut background backed with coloured paper which looks like stained glass or do you have products which feature these effects? I think there are different ways to take this prompt in a stash direction or photo driven layout or even for your journalling - plenty of scope for interpretation.

I'd love to see where this takes you this week and of course, if you are inspired, I hope that you'll share. You can do that in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken. 

Or simply tell us in the comments where to find you... :-)

Challenge #302 - week of 10th September 2018

Yep, life gets in the way. But that's ok, right? Let's just pretend I didn't miss a week and move on!

Whimsical Musings friend Leslie has been scrapping up a storm recently and has worked her way through many prompts which makes me bow my head in shame AND feel motivated to get going - both at the same time! If you haven't caught her wonderful layouts you can see them over at our Facebook group - Whimsical Musings here - or over on her own blog - Out of the Mire here. You'll be inspired to pick up paper and scissors and get going for sure!

But onwards and upwards.

This week I'd like you to be inspired by the hashtag #watchmesmile

At this time of year, I find myself smiling - it's MY time! My favourite time of the year and everything just makes me smile. The cooler temperatures, the misty mornings, the dull, rainy days, the scattering of conkers on the ground, that autumn smell, the leaves turning colour and falling, the arrival of pumpkin decorations, the shorter days and darker nights, the low lying sun, the anticipation of winter in the air. Yes, you know that autumn is my favourite time of year but honestly, I smile every day! I started using the hashtag #watchmesmile and just using it made me happy. I've looked online and it would appear that I'm absolutely not unique and now it's rather full of posts from a West End show which definitely do NOT make me smile but I don't mind - I feel that it's my hashtag to use for what makes me happy at this time of year - I just ignore all the others!

Both of these layouts were made about "my" hashtag. The first a bit more obviously! I am going to have to come up with a new way to interpret the prompt this time around. Well, let's see.

Both layouts were made using Story Starter prompts and sketches from the Simple Scrapper premium membership community. Fabulous prompts and great sketches :-)

You might take the hashtag as it is and base your layout around it. You might have a hashtag that you use for specific situations. You might have come up with a unique hashtag that no-one else has yet caught on to (I just discovered that two of those I sometimes use are unique to me... so far!) You might hate hashtags and scrap a project about that. You might have a list of them that you use and want to record this modern part of life. You could follow my lead and just find stuff that makes you smile and make a happy page. Perhaps autumn is also your time and you could use that as your jumping off point. Or maybe you have social media themed products that need dusting off and using this week!

A few different directions that I hope inspire you this week!

And if you are inspired, I hope that you'll share. You can do that in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken. 

Or simply tell us in the comments where to find you... :-)