Challenge #332 - week of 30th September 2019

I think you all know how much I love the dates in my diary driving my inspiration. It all rather reminds me of a Big Picture Scrapbooking class I did with Elizabeth Dillow - the Scrapbooker's Almanac - did any of you do that class? I still have the book on my shelf and it was a great class.

Anyway, 30th September marks the anniversary of meeting my now husband and this year is a full 21 years since the day fate turned my life around. 

When I was younger, even though in the UK we were already officially an adult at 18, the move from 21 to 18 was still fresh and I got to have a smaller celebration at the age of 21 too. And that got me thinking.

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by becoming an adult.

• What does that mean to you? 
• Did you have a party? 
• Did you mark it in some specific way? 
• Had you been waiting a long time to be "legal" for something or other? 
• How about friends or family? 
• Perhaps this is the time to talk about your first time to vote, have an alcoholic drink or go to a horror movie rated for adults? 
• Or maybe it's time to talk to that younger you who couldn't wait to become an adult and give them some advice. 
• Or can you remember how you felt at that time.
• It might even have been a bit of a disappointment!

As always, I like to have something visual so I fished out two rather old pages now (from 2011 and 2012!) looking back at a much, much younger me at the tender age of 18 - with journaling from a present perspective. Is that really me?

I think there's a lot of different directions you could go this week with an adult inspired page and I'd love to see how you've been inspired.

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 #327 - week of 13th May 2019

A little late but not too late I hope.

I was out and about on Saturday in a city I've not been to before. And it was wet! Really wet. It rained so heavily that I can't say that Stuttgart showed itself in its best colours! But we'd already been around a rather lovely palace with a water feature or two, and dived in and out of the rain to take in a few sights in town before heading to the arena to see Elton John on his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" final world tour. By the time we drove back, I was relieved that it was dry again. When I got home, the first task I needed to do was water the plants on the balcony as one or two of them were looking rather droopy and sorry for themselves! And even though it's dry and sunny at the moment, there's a lot of talk of weather round here. People are aching for summer but it's been way too dry over the last 12 months or so and there's concern that there's not nearly enough ground water for the time of year, and farmers are worried.

That's a whole lot of the wet stuff and so this week, I'd like you to be inspired by water!

I think you could take this prompt in almost any direction you like but here's a few ideas if you are truly stuck:

• rainy days; shower-filled springtime; long, hot, dry summers with no rain at all; ice-covered plants, gardens or streets; snow days; sleet, snow or hail  - weather has all sorts water themes whether it's in its native form or frozen!
• your garden is often filled with water with ponds, bird baths, water features, paddling pools or even swimming pools not to mention the daily task of watering the garden when it's dry to keep your plants happy
• water is an important part of housework, personal cleanliness or cooking
• water often features in an impressive way on holidays be it tropical oceans, sparkling swimming pools or natural waterfalls
• our scrappy supplies can be found in shades of blue while photo realistic patterns feature beach views or sky views
• beads and sequins can represent raindrops or mists can be used to create splashes across your page.

Here are a few pages I've made related to water 

The white cliffs of Dover spotted across the English Channel from the ferry - an iconic view

A volcanic lake in the Philippines

A swimming pool themed layout featuring water photo-realistic paper 

A rainy day in London - this photo was gifted to me for this page and I love the rain drops and the misty view across the river

I think that these ideas could be some good jumping off points this week and I'm interested to see where you go!

Wherever that is, 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 #326 - week of 6th May 2019

:-(

I got caught up with other stuff - which does include some creating which I can share with you in the next day or so - and I neglected this corner of the web.

But, here I am again and I guess I should just keep going!

As I write this, the news has just come out that Prince Harry and Meghan have had a boy! So I looked through previous prompts to see what we've done to date that match this event.

Well, we have had babies themselves (WM#64 - babies), little girls (WM#44 - thank heavens for little girls), brothers and sisters (WM#225 - siblings), more babies (WM#282 - new life) and even this one about Princes (WM#11- You have to kiss a lot of frogs in order to find your Prince)!

You know that I want to find a new angle for this because I like to take topical events with a spin. We've had little girls and therefore, why don't we go with:

Be inspired by little boys.

I think that even though you can just go with scrapping about a baby boy in your life, I really think you could also consider some other approaches:

• of course, you could take the baby approach regardless of it it's a boy or a boy
• you could think about pets or animals if you don't have a human baby in your life
• baby paper collections could be the way you take the prompt whether or not you make a page about a baby
• older boys or young or even mature men can sometimes act like little boys so there might be a funny story or two to record here
• have you personified something in your life (e.g. a car) with a boy persona? 
• contrast boys and girls in your life
• ask your husband, brother or son for a story from their childhood and record it in their own words

I think that's quite a nice list of possible alternatives from the straightforward little boys in your life so I really hope that you can find a way to be inspired this week.

And because I like to have an image in every post and if possible, a layout or two, here are a few layouts I've made recently for some little boys in my life.

My youngest nephew

My oldest nephew (actually, I've only got two - ha ha!)

And my baby, baby brother who will always be a bit of a little boy to me!

I think that these ideas could be some good jumping off points this week and I'm interested to see where you go!

Wherever that is, 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 #325 - week of 8th April 2019

April already and another week slipped from view. But spring is here and the birds are singing and the flowers are turning towards the sun and the blossoms are budding. So all is well! Colder weather will come and go for the next month or so, but winter is definitely behind us which makes most people happier and brighter.

So where does that leave us this week? Winter clothes are being ignored at the back of the wardrobe in favour of lighter, fresher styles and that made me have a look through my accessories.

When my eye fell on a favourite that appears to be broken, I knew that I should make it a prompt for us.

So this week I'd like you to be inspired by this necklace.

If you look closely, you'll notice that some of the beads are missing and it's seen better days. But it's 12 years old now so all in all, it's served its purpose and even though I still love it, it's time to let it go. There's a story attached to this buying this necklace on our Yukon adventure, and the fact that it's broken makes me sad.

But I have a photo or two of me wearing it and this photo here. Fond memories of Skagway, Alaska where I bought it come to mind when I see it, so that might be the way I go this week.

You might want to consider the following ideas:

• be inspired by the design itself - the mix of little and larger flowers, the different shapes of the petals or the curved line they form.
• be inspired by the colours - a brighter sky blue matched with a dusky grey-blue and a happy green-yellow spot in the middle.
• be inspired by a piece of costume jewellery of your own - one that you love, you dislike, you were given, you treated yourself, a cheap and cheerful piece or something a little more expensive. There's plenty of directions to take this.
• be inspired by a holiday purchase - I always try to buy something on a trip that I can take back with me to remember the happy time I had. We have prints, original paintings, pieces of jewellery or decorative items for our home. I'm sure I could make a page about each of these items and still have more to say.
• be inspired by clearing items out - this necklace, as much as I still love it, will be thrown away to make space for a new much-loved piece. Part of my ongoing decluttering, organising and sorting process that's very much an ongoing theme in my life. You might have a story to tell that's similar.

I think that these ideas could be some good jumping off points this week and I'm interested to see where you go!

Wherever that is, 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 #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 #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!

Challenge #320 - week of 25th February 2019

As you know, I'm part of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge (find us on the blog here or join our online community over on FB here).

Master Forger Julene organised our February inspiration kit and challenges and the kit she selected was actually a full collection - Anthology by Kaisercraft - which featured a whole bunch of butterflies. You can find all the details of the kit I made on my blog here and you can see that I tracked down quite a few in my stash.

It would seem that butterflies never really go out of fashion and this is our inspiration this week.

Be inspired by butterflies.

My first thought for this prompt is to concentrate on butterflies in your stash but you might also like to take your project in the following directions:

• product - I'm sure you've also got a bunch of butterflies on your patterned paper, in die-cut packs, as wooden veneer, or even as single embellishments. Do you have any older stash from the days of Jenni Bowlin who featured butterflies on many of her gorgeous designs. Yes, those items you've been hoarding?!? This week might be the right time to honour them!
• punches - I've got three or four punches for butterflies and they can be easily punched and used in large numbers on pages. 
• stamps - I also have a treasured set of Martha Stewart stamps that feature about half a dozen beautiful designs. I've used them as stamps or even as tone on tone embossed images - in fact this technique was featured on a layout I made with my Counterfeit Kit back in September 2011 when I was asked to be GD. I've included that page below.
• story - maybe you have a butterfly story to include on your page this week. A visit to a butterfly park, the butterfly visited buddleia in your garden or just a love of these little creatures fluttering around in nature.
• metaphor - you might have a little free spirit in your family that you often compare to a butterfly. This might be the time to record a story about them.
• colour or design - you could think about taking the colour scheme from one of your favourites or consider the idea of the symmetry that those pretty wings offer.

So as you can see, there's more than one way to take this stash inspired prompt this week-

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 #319 - week of 18th February 2019

I don't know about you but I love love love looking through the photos on my phone when I have a few minutes to kill. Having those memories right there in your hand when you're in the mood is one of the best inventions ever! And of course, there are Apps that support that desire to look back in time while you're standing in queue at the supermarket. One of my favourites is "Timehop" which reminds you of photos you have in your photo stream or on social media in previous years.

Last week I had just such a reminder - one of my favourite ever photos of my beautiful niece from 6 years ago popped up and I realised that I had a brand new one of her that I could match up with it for a "Then & Now" shot. Now that makes me happy

So this week, I'd like you to be inspired by then and now.

How you could take the prompt this week:

• a then and now composite photo such as the one I've posted above using an App or make your own collage to use on your layout.
• just take two photos and bring them together in a then and now concept on your page - like we did before reminder and photo collage apps ;-) 
• take a now and then story and compete two times - technology or growth are typical topics for these types of pages.
• Compare your own story at a point in the past with that of a child of the same age today - it's the same principle but a different comparison point of view.
• make a photo or a story heavy page with your comparison.
• My Mind's Eye had a collection line called "Now & Then" which you might have in your stash - this could be the time to use it up (heading over to my own MME supplies to see!) and I noticed that there were several digital kits featured online when I entered the search criteria "then and now"
• how about combining old and new products to give the prompt a different twist. 

I hope you'll give this prompt a try and find ways to look at "then and now". 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 #318 - week of 11th February 2019

It's Valentine's Day week and I'd love to find a way to inspire you with everything hearts and romance this week without actually using the name "Valentine's Day"! I know, I know, it's a bit strange but we haven't done it so far and I want to challenge myself!

Let's see what we can do....

You all know that I have a "thing" for stars and constellations and night skies and I was so delighted to find this totally gorgeous Valentine's Day card when I was in the UK last week...

I could almost feel my heart do a flip when I saw it with all the laser cutting, stars, hearts and sprinkles and even though it was ridiculously expensive, it had to come home with me.

So... this week, I'd like you to be inspired by "I love you to the moon and back"

This has become a much used phrase in recent years - although the original phrase we repeat to each other is "to infinity, beyond and back again" - and I've included it on several of my pages when I purchased the Kesi 'Art Moonlight collection which I love and wish I could track down some more! I think you can see how versatile this phrase or even supplies can be.

I used it here on a layout about a special and rather untraditional Christmas Eve dinner in Prague...

and here on a page about my one and only...

and here on a New Year's Eve page...

and here to express my ongoing love for the still much-missed Bowie.

This layout uses a sketch from the March 2019 collection and a Story Starter® from the archives as part of the premium  Simple Scrapper membership, where I am on the Creative Team.

And then there are these two moon photo layouts - both using the same photo if I'm not mistaken - ha ha! But they have totally different subjects and won't be placed near each other in albums so I'm totally ok with that!

I hope I've since added journalling to this one or one of those tags is a pull out story card!

The pull out journalling here tells how I am very affected by the full moon and get positively grumpy and irrational at that time - it seems to run in the family 

Ways you could take this prompt today:

• You could literally take the phrase and use it to refer to a loved one, a child, a friend, someone you miss or something you can't live without. This is where you could pull out all the romance lovey-dovey Valentine's Day related stuff - if that's where you want to go this week!
• You could have a space inspired story - this year marks 50 years since man walked on the moon so that might be something in your family history to record on your page
• Moon inspired products are very trendy right now so maybe you have some that could be cut into today.
• Your story could involve a very very very long journey in one form or another.
• Night skies, constellations, the Milky Way, solar or lunar eclipses, full moons and other Solar System stories and supplies would all be suitable for this week's prompt.

Maybe you don't love all things stars and moons as much as I do, but 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 #317 - week of 4th February 2019

Ah! February already.

Last Saturday was Groundhog Day which got me thinking about this week's challenge so... yes, you guessed it...

I'd like you to be inspired by Groundhog Day.

Let's have a look at a few ways you might take this prompt:

• Groundhog Day is when Phil tells us if there's going to be 6 more weeks of winter weather - if he sees his shadow - or if spring is on its way - if it's cloudy and there's no shadow to be seen. So you could talk about your own weather predictions or feelings about winter and spring at this time of year. 
• Maybe you've even visited a Groundhog Day event - of course, one of the most famous of which is Punxsatawny Phil in Pennsylvania. This might be the time to write about that trip.
• You can find out more about this day over on Wikipedia and I was interested to find that it seems to have its weather lore origins in Germany where badgers would predict the end of winter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
• And what about the famous movie? I'm sure you've seen it and also had that feeling of living the same day over and over and over again! This could be the way to take the challenge this week.
• Weather stash and products would also work for this prompt as well as any product featuring groundhogs, squirrels (they come from the rodent/squirrel family), badgers or any such creatures.
• Or maybe you just want to celebrate something that happens on that day! The choice is yours.

Last year, I spent Groundhog Day in this gorgeous French hotel as it happens to be the same day as my bestie's birthday - love the layout I made of this sweet French village on that day.

Do you have somewhere to go with this? I hope so. However you interpret Groundhog Day this week, we'd love to see! 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 #316 - week of 28th January 2018

Another Monday, another early morning appointment. This time at the local transport registration office. Anyone who knows anything about Germany knows that it's a bureaucratic system and this will be my third visit to the office in an attempt register our new car. Not easy for a non-native but all part of the fun of living in a foreign country. :-)

So this week, I'd like you to be inspired by bureaucracy.

A layout from a previous WM#79 prompt to just show you that I love Germany despite the rolling eyes at all the red tape sometimes!

And another one to show you that I love my adopted home country but can still get frustrated!  Sometimes it all just makes me smile!

There are some ways to take this so shall we have a look and see where we can find inspiration?

• local government - we all have our stories of "fighting" the local government system to get something done. I'm not thinking negative stories here, although of course, feel free to tell those too! But the Catch 22 type of scenarios that I'm sure we've all experienced at least once! I have one that springs to mind about receiving my British passport with my new married name here in Germany with an eventful trip to the post office so that might be my story this week! Local government has a reputation for having a lot of red tape no matter what country so this could be a direction for you.
• national government - perhaps you've been affected by something bureaucratic at a higher level that you could write about this week. Again, Catch 22 situations spring to mind where you just seem to go round in circles! 
• business - jobs and business is full of red tape. Maybe you made a recommendation that would have reduced red tape in your company that you'd like to write about or something that was introduced that just seemed so crazy that it was funny! This might be the week to put that down on a project.
• Project Life - if you are recording your daily/weekly/monthly life in a Project Life or pocket page system, then you're bound to be recording snippets of life that include aspects of procedures or processes that could be linked to bureaucracy. Get it written down for this week's prompt!
• red tape - of course, bureaucracy is also known as "red tape" as I've mentioned above so how about using red tape on your project. Washi or strips of red paper or even twine could match this idea. 
• the origins of red tape - in the past, the files that lawyers needed to refer to in court were wrapped with red (or pink) tape. So you could write a story about a lawyer you know, studying the law, official files, or a legal story.

Enough? I hope so. I really think that that post office story might be the one for me. It's hilarious and familiar to anyone and everyone I've told, no matter what country they come from. Let's see if I can get creative this week.

However you interpret it, we'd love to see! 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 #315 - week of 21st January 2019

Morning! I hope you're having a great start to the new week and I'm happy to report that we've had some simply wonderful winter weather round here - blue skies with a warming, bright sun and thick frost that stays all day! I think the ducks outside where we live are a little confused, as always, as to why the water is totally frozen over suddenly!

But I'm up and out early this week because I have a check up at the doctor's which gave me the idea for this week.

I'd like you to be inspired by checks.

Checking off items from a to-do list 

Checking progress on health and fitness goals

I can hear you scratching your head from here but let's think about how you could interpret this:

• doctor's check - this could include an update in a baby book through to a regular yearly routine that you'd like to record. It could be a funny anecdote, something that you'd been dreading that turned out fine or if you are recording a difficult story or journey, something from that timeline. 
• a check list - this might include any kind of list making such as Christmas lists, present lists, Monday to do lists, yearly goals and everything in between.
• quirks - we all have them and sometimes they include regular checks that you do at certain times or at regular intervals or before you do something else. Maybe you check that you turned off the iron five times before you leave the house, or like me, check that you have your passport with you every five minutes on the way to the airport.
• travel - travelling is full of checks. Packing lists, places to go, planning the trip with a guidebook, airport security checks, checking off the things you've done throughout the trip.
• household - part of running a household is having checks - mental or written down. Regular checks of equipments, supplies, things to do. Winter checks, summer checks. Clothing, cleaning, gardening, storage.
• paper supplies - I've seen many supplies which include check lists which could be interesting to  include on your project this week - paper, journalling cards and embellishments. Sometimes there are even full collections based on this style - Daily Grind from Simple Stories back in 2013 for example! Or how about a checked paper design - gingham, plaid, grid, geometric.
• general checks - I'm sure you can think of stories where something needed to be checked. Maybe even checked twice!

I hope you've got ideas churning and maybe that will turn into a page which I'd love to see!

You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Happy Monday everyone, let the games begin!

Challenge #314 - week of 14th January 2018

It's pretty dark and miserable round here. A bit drizzly - or rather a lot in fact! - and windy and not really what we like to envision when we think about winter.

In contrast, down south in Bavaria and the Alps, they have a dangerously large amount of snow which are causing a huge amount of problems but the photos we're being given show beautifully stunning landscapes covered with thick white snow. It's hard to imagine it's as dangerous as it is..

Both of these have inspired my prompt this week. 

I'd like you to be inspired by this Winter Tones colour scheme by Design Seeds. 

(https://www.design-seeds.com/seasons/winter/winter-tones-8/)

INSPIRATION BY DESIGN SEEDS

{ WINTER TONES } | IMAGE VIA:@JULIE_AUDET

I searched for colour schemes with grey and this one jumped out at me - it seems to sum up everything wonderful about winter. A log cabin in the snow covered woods. Looks perfect.

Here are some ways to take the prompt:

• the actual colour scheme provided in the inspiration photo
• grey days - actually or metaphorically. This doesn't have to be negative although we tend to automatically think of grey days as rather sad or miserable! Maybe how you pull yourself out of a grey mood by picking up spring flowers that start to appear at this time of year.
• snow - ski holidays, snowmen, snow days off school, favourite snow stories or a weather chaos memory perhaps.
• log cabin - your own or a dream for the future. An idea for the perfect holiday or a memory of any sort of cabin trip.

I think there's different aspects to this that you could consider and as always, however you interpret it, we'd love to see! 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 #313 - week of 7th January 2019

It's been a while. I know. But are you still here?

The end of November and all of December was a crazy time round here which started with birthdays, parties, more birthdays, Christmas celebrations and ended up with a round trip to the UK, followed by New Year and back to work.

But here we are at the beginning of January and it's the first Monday of the new year which seems like a good time to hit the restart button.

So where does this leave us? Hopefully, a new year of prompts and as always, a desire and will to continue, and a goal to be more organised in getting prompts scheduled ahead of time so that I have a better chance of posting each week.

Sounds like a plan.

And therefore I'd like you to be inspired by plans.

I'm hoping that this has sent your brain off in a million directions as it has mine but let's think about what you could bring to your page this week.

• new year plans - I have them and I'm sure you do too
• resolutions, goals, objectives - I know that resolutions are not so "on trend" these days but sometimes we still make them and even sometimes, keep them 
• plans in general - day, week, year or even life plans for yourself or any member of your family
• holiday plans - are you planning on travelling this year? You could even think about a whole mini-book about the planning process for a big trip.
• the planner trend - maybe you're new to this and would like to record your entry into the wonderful world of pretty planners. Mint green washi friend categorisation and all (in joke relating to an old Paperclipping April Fool's Joke here!
• planning style stash - you might have patterned paper that looks like pages from a calendar, pocket page cards where you can list your goals or embellies from a planning style collection. 

I've treated myself to a Webster's Pages planner this year - not really for the scheduling side of the planner, more for the to lists, noting down ideas, capturing inspiration and general moving forward side of things. Let's see if it helps my organisation!

I think you'll agree that there are a few different ways to take this new year prompt and as always, however you interpret it, we'd love to see! You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Now, let's get 2019 up and running!

Challenge #311 - week of 12th November 2018

Yesterday, across parts of western Europe and the English speaking world, we remembered those fallen in times of war as part of Remembrance Day. This is commemorated every year on 11th November and at 11am, a two-minute silence is often signalled by The Last Post and a reading of a verse or two of poems written during WWI.

In 1918, "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" the guns fell silent as part of the armistice which had been agreed and signed some 5 hours before, marking the end of World War I (1914-1918).

It's a big thing in Great Britain and this year was especially poignant as it marked the 100 years since that time. I wore my poppy with pride and had my own two-minute silence.

So, this week I'd like you to be inspired by "lest we forget".

This doesn't have to be a sad story or even anything to do with loss or remembrance as such. It could be a story that you've been meaning to tell, or something you want to make sure is recorded or something you just don't want to forget yourself. Of course, it can also be a more serious project if you have something you want to put down on paper. I'd just like you to be inspired by the idea of looking back and remembering. To be honest, the phrase "lest we forget" definitely sums up one of the reasons I scrapbook. I often say, "If I don't tell my story, who will?" And that's what it's all about for me. Stories that would otherwise get forgotten.

Take this prompt in any way you'd like today but I'd love to see some recorded stories.


I always hope you share your creations and of course, here's a reminder that you can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Challenge #310 - week of 5th November 2018

Welcome to November - my favourite month. 

There is so much to love about November and I'm determined to enjoy it all. So far, we've already had a birthday celebration, a city light festival and an amazing firework display - and it's only the 5th!

And, it's Bonfire Night in the UK today so having fireworks last night here in Germany was a fabulous substitute!

But we've been challenged by this British celebration before so I can't have that. But don't forget that if you haven't made a firework page, check out prompt WM#144 - be inspired by fireworks and maybe this is the week for that too.

However, recently I was walking through town and noticed some pretty gorgeous window decoration in a men's wear shop. As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted to use them for a WM prompt at some point. As autumn has arrived at last, today is the day.

This week I'd like you to be inspired by geometric animals.

Aren't they gorgeous? I just couldn't resist. There's something about each of the faces that just has me melting - especially the wolf.

I think you could easily find a link between one of these and a story to tell. Take the animals as themselves - hiking, zoos, trekking, a trip through the wilderness, something on your wishlist to see or go. There are the colours in the designs - gorgeous combinations for this time of year. There are the geometric designs which have been so cleverly used to create these 3D faces staring out at us. Use one or all three to inspire your own page and/or story.


If you're inspired then I really hope you'll share and of course, here's a reminder that you can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken. 

Challenge #309 - week of 29th October 2018

It's Halloween week and I'm sure many of you have decorated and are getting ready for trick or treat'ers knocking on your door. Some of you might even be getting dressed up in your creepy costumes.

We used to do that too which was a lot of fun, but these days I tend to just note that the day is here and move on! Halloween was always a mini-celebration when I was a child which was fun even though we didn't go from door to door. But there would be party games at home usually involving apples or sweets which was good enough for me.

I don't think I've ever done a regular Halloween prompt here so I'm going to continue that by offering you an inspired colour scheme courtesy of Design Seeds. { candied hues } was posted on 31st October 2017 which is totally on cue. 

So, be inspired by a candy colour scheme!

{ candied hues } image via: @rotblaugelb
Design Seeds - original source here

I think this picture really has some of the main tones you might find at Halloween so if those are the photos you want to use, that should be a great combination. But the purple, pink, brown and orange would be perfect for autumn thoughts or nature walks. I really think this is a lovely range of colours that are ideal for a whole range of projects and memories - see where you go!


I hope you'll share and of course, here's a reminder that you can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.