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!

#30 Inspired by current trends

Well, Lisa really inspired us by sharing her patchwork. I especially love quilting and the mismatch of fabrics is right up my alley.

Something Leslie said in the discussion boards this week solidified my design and off I went.

Funny that I also added stitching to my little hexagons, but i kept mine to just a few of the shapes. I loved diving into my scrap pile to find little pieces of papers I love which were the perfect size for the hexagons. The best part? My geometric background was made to match my style and my picture.

There is still a page or two left for me to explore with this challenge. I think this prompt showed us all how easy it is to recreate some of the trends we see in all the magazines and the new products. With just a little ingenuity we can all use what we have on hand to be on trend. And I love that.

Thank you Lisa for another great week.

xo,
Pamage

#24 inspired by handwritten letters

I absolutely adore this prompt. I have so many handwritten letters. I have been lucky enough to receive and wise enough to keep so many little notes and messages over the years. I seldom scrap these.

Early on in the week I created a layout which some of you have already seen in the gallery.

The photo section acts as a big pocket where I included a selection of letters. Although you can see the two different handwriting peeping out, I wanted to do this prompt justice by creating a layout featuring another's handwriting. 

So last night as I was laying in bed, the idea for this layout came to me. I jumped out of bed to search for the letter I had in mind before the inspiration passed. 

Because scrapbooking my father is a difficult subject for me (we have a complicated relationship), I spent the better part of today creating this layout. In fact, I would take breaks in between. I kept getting stuck.

The highlight of making this page however, was that the mailman showed up in the middle of the process and  - I had an envelope from Germany! Yes, our sweet Lisa sent me a cute little card. I adore it.

  I love the little butterflies so much, that I adhered them straight unto what I was working. 

 I find that whenever I scrap a difficult topic the artiness of it all goes on overdrive. So I ended up with something like this.

But in the end I really disliked the results. In all my artiness I had lost my design focus and I felt the page couldn't breathe. So I went back to the drawing board and created some breathing room.

The final results feel more like me. I am happy to have included the original envelope (12 years old), the line of journaling (yes, that was all he wrote on the 8.5x11 sheet he mailed) and Lisa's sweet butterflies. Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!

If you used handwritten letters in your pages this week we would love to see it, just remember to upload it with the tage WM#26. I am loving all the action our little gallery is getting lately with folks re-visiting older prompts. I'll be back Monday with our new challenge. Can't wait to see what Lisa creates!

xo,

Pamage