Challenge #324 - week of 25th March 2019

Another Monday and another chance to start the week with a "clean" slate and by clean, I mean it literally! At the moment, I'm home on Mondays which gives me a chance to get on top of the housework after the chaos of the weekend (when I generally do nothing household-y) and leaves the rest of the week free to do what I like! I read somewhere that your average German housewife spends more than four hours a day on housework which sounds rather a lot to me but then again, I'm not average, not German and definitely not a housewife. Maybe if I ticked one or two of these boxes, I'd spend more time not less!

Anyway, my place is now clean and tidy - more or less - and will remain this way until the weekend, although I do do a little cleaning most evenings after work. But this week, I decided to get a whole bunch of washing done - three loads in so far, another three waiting to be done. With no dryer and almost everything we own needing ironing when it is dry, that's a whole lot of work in itself. One step at a time.

So this week, I'd like you to be inspired by the washing (or laundry for my US friends!)

I think there are different ways to take this prompt:

• the physical act of doing the washing/laundry as a stand alone topic - maybe you have a huge amount, hardly any or are you lucky enough to have someone to do it for you? Do you send stuff out to be done or have someone come in to do the ironing? Do you have a routine or a standard time to get it done and do you always follow a certain way of doing it? I think this might be quite a cultural topic as I've noticed big differences across countries with how this household task is undertaken. You might have had a life change that has affected this task - a new baby who seems to need five outfits a day or a retirement which means that you no longer have to iron business shirts or a new job which means a uniform, different types of clothes or stuff that's tricky to manage. You could also think about the washing as part of a daily/weekly/regular routine which you might be recording on your page. A Day in the Life or A Week in the Life or just your Project Life project might touch on housework tasks.
• a problem you encountered during the activity - have you ever left a red sock in the white wash and sent all your husband's shirts pink? Or perhaps put a rather expensive woollen, designer jumper on a hot wash only for it to come out the size of a Barbie doll with the texture of solid felt? (true story that happened to a friend of mine while we were au pairs!) Or perhaps the washing machine let you down and flooded the house or something got washed by mistake (a special toy perhaps) and it was never the same again. 
• you might want to record it as part of things you love to do or maybe, like me, you are not a fan! A "Things Right Now" type layout are always a fun snapshot in time.
• part of your character - as my layout above shows, I'm not a natural and this layout records that. However, maybe you're a laundry fiend and could even consider it a superpower - record that this week.
• products - the Simple Scrapper collection in the layout above featured lots of housework elements both in the papers and die cuts and I loved trying to find a way to use them. The little washing machine cluster featured here made me happy.
• design - try hanging elements across your page from a "washing line". This is a design feature I've used again and again over the years and even have one hanging on my wall in a frame that even uses mini clothes pins to hold the photos and embellishments on the line

I think that's quite a list of ways you could take this prompt and I hope you'll give this prompt a try. It would be great to see what you make.  You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Have a great day everyone!

Challenge #323 - week of 18th March 2019

Half way through March and I hope spring is showing its face in your corner of the world. I think that winter is officially over round here which makes me a bit sad because we didn't have anything like a good, cold season! We did have a cold snap at one point and some snow but it didn't last long.

I love seasons and like it when each one "performs" to stereotype! Ha ha.

But it got me thinking about how many are already looking forward to, and even longing for, to summer. Which got my train of thought going and I came up with this week's prompt.

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by the Pantone Colour of the Year 2019 - Living Coral

Image Source: Pantone Colour of the Year page 

You can find out all about this Pantone colour on their site here including a super inspirational short video. Why not check it out and then get scrapping?

I've just noticed that the colour I use to highlight the prompt is pretty close to Living Coral and I wonder what else I have in my stash?

Yes! Just a few minutes looking through unearthed this handful of items in the same colour. They might be a little paler than Living Coral but I think they could be perfect for this prompt!

You could of course take this prompt a few different ways:

• literally - find product that matches Living Coral and include it on your pages.
• similar tones - you could look for similar colours in your stash or even in your photos to use today. 
• stories - you could think about stories that include this colour - tropical holiday perhaps - or where colour was important.
• coral - have you ever been to a coral reef and snorkelled or even dived? This could be the week to talk about this story or find those glorious underwater photos to include.
• colour - we've had many prompts through the years related to colour but this is the way you could find inspiration this week in a more general way.

So, some ways to interpret the prompt this week and to include this glorious colour on your pages

Whichever way you decide to go, I really hope you'll share. It would be great to see what you make.  You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Have a great day everyone!

Challenge #322 - week of 11th March 2019

Hello hello!

A little late but still here. A lot of activity over in the #Calvinball2019 community - hosted by Scrap Happy this year after the closure of Get It Scrapped - means that several of you have completed one or two WM layouts - insert happy dance here! Go all of you!

I'm up to about 20 points which consists of a grand total of three layouts and that means I'm rather behind the others :-) WM friend Leslie for example is up to 247 at time of writing! Ha ha. But it's all good stuff and if you haven't checked it out yet, it's never too late to join in the fun! You can find out more info over at the Scrap Happy FB group here. Just jump right in - it's chaotic anyway so there's no way to not do it right!

But in the meantime, I'm back with some hope to get more scrapping done this week and a new prompt for this week.

I'd like you to be inspired by tassels.

Has this trend ever really gone away? I wonder. They seem to pop up from time to time and I love them. I mean, I really love them! If I get hold of a pack from a scrapbook manufacturer, I tend to use them up right away but I've also been noticing that they are appearing in other types of shop too.

Look at these luscious versions attached to the most gorgeous pouches in a local shop? I really need at least one if not all of these bags. Saving pennies!

Or maybe I should just treat myself to a single, luscious tassel to hang somewhere?

And I couldn't resist picking up these in a local home decor shop. I am totally using these for scrapping!

How about this colourful chipboard element on a page I made last year?

And last summer I picked up a pack of Crate Paper tassels that got put to use on pages immediately.

So, these are some ways you could use tassels on your pages:

• product - think paper, chipboard, die cut or real twine or thread tassels such as these I've showcased above. I know that the Simple Scrapper line Mama Llama (was that the name of the collection?) has a full patterned paper with banners covered with tassels - so much fun.
• make your own - you could definitely make your own and I've done that in the past too. I was surprised just how simple they were to make even if they were a bit fiddly. You can find my FOF post on my blog with mine here
• travel stories - I think that tassels are an integral decoration that you might find on your travels. Do you have a photo from a journey where you can see tassels or something you brought home with you that you could base a page around.
• clothes - many clothes have tassels on them so maybe you have a story about an item of clothing or a photo that features someone wearing something with tassels. How about combining clothes and travel with something like a belly dancer or traditional clothing from somewhere you've been. These are my favourite types of pages!
• home decor - think Paris, luxurious hotels, soft furnishings, ski chalets or bedouin tents! They probably all feature a tassel or two!

I think that gives you some ideas of how you could take it literally as an embellishment on your page or a direction to take a story. Where will you go this week?

Wherever you go, I really hope you'll share. It would be great to see what you make.  You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Have a great day everyone!

Challenge #321 - week of 4th March 2019

Those of you who've followed here for some time will know that as far as celebrities go, my love of David Bowie goes a little beyond the "normal" from time to time. It's been three years and I'm still sad and I still miss him. In fact, I've realised that I've made so many layouts about my love for him and his music that he needs his own album! Yes, I'm that crazy.

Anyway, at the time of his death, I clearly remember telling people that I had three heroes in life - David Bowie, Karl Lagerfeld and the Queen. And you may or may not be aware of the fact that we lost the genius that is Kaiser Karl two weeks ago. And yes, that made me very sad. He was an incredible artist, an eccentric and someone I've been fascinated with almost all my life - since before he took over Chanel in 1983 in fact.

So, for this week, I thought about different ways of using our prompt to honour him in some way - a roundabout way perhaps. But then I thought that he is surely inspiration enough.

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

I was lucky enough to get to an exhibition of some of his work back in 2015 here in Bonn and was in heaven, creating this layout as a result.

I guess it's an inevitable part of getting older but it still hurts.

How could you take this prompt if you're not such a crazy fan as I am?

• Again, life heroes, fascinating famous people who you've followed in your life, celebrity crushes - all are fair game for this.
• He was known for only wearing black and white so maybe a B&W photo or a monochromatic layout could be perfect.
• He was a workaholic - I'm sure we all know stories about workaholics (both in a good and a negative way) that could feature on our pages.
• He lost a huge amount of weight some years ago so that he could fit into the slim fitting suits by designer Hedi Slimane - perhaps you have a weight or fitness story that fits into this category.
• He was eccentric - personalities, family members, outrageous actions could all fit into this idea.
• He designed incredible clothes for Chloe, his own label Karl Lagerfeld, Fendi and of course, Chanel all of which could drive your design this week through patterns, lines, colours or textures. 
• He sketched incessantly - include drawings on your layout, your own or maybe one of those school drawings that are sitting in your children's memorabilia box.
• He was infamous for his white ponytail which could inspire a hair story of your own - style or colour.

Wow, I think that's quite a list and I could have gone on and on.

I know that it's unlikely you are as much as a fan as I am and are probably sitting there wondering who this crazy woman is but I'm sure you can find some inspiration in my prompt this week if you take it as an open interpretation!

Whichever way you decide to go, I really hope you'll share. It would be great to see what you make.  You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Have a great day everyone!

#320 - be inspired by butterflies

Oh my word! I've done a prompt layout!

A free weekend, plus Creative Team (Simple Scrapper) motivation and an additional layer of fun courtesy of Calvinball2019 (hosted by Scrap Happy and to be found on FB here). Add in a bunch of Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits that have been neglected as well as a desire to get some WM prompts completed and here you have a layout :-)

In fact, I finished two layouts this weekend but this one was specifically decorated with butterflies to match this week's WM prompt.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge November 2018 kit, Scorpio lo#4

This layout uses an upcoming sketch matched up with an older Story Starter™ from the Simple Scrapper premium membership where I am on the Creative Team. It tells the story of the silver lining to be found in a difficult situation.

I also used my beloved Counterfeit Kit Challenge November 2018 kit, "Scorpio".

With glorious photos such as these, it was an ideal chance to use a bunch of pretty papers. I love the result and how pretty it's turned out.

I punched a whole pile of butterflies and hearts and then came up with the idea of layering the butterflies up with stitching through the middle. I'm really pleased with how they look with that hint of dimension.

As always, I love it when you share too and if you've been inspired to create, don't forget that you can add your own creations to our Facebook group here. Please don't be shy! 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... :-)