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 #308 - week of 22nd October 2018

I've been doing a lot of travelling around Germany the last few months and have taken a lot of gorgeous photographs which of course, inspire my scrapbooking.

This last weekend was no exception and we were out and about in the absolute best autumn weather with the most incredible light - you can see some examples over on my Instagram account. But one photo in particular made me stop and pay attention.

As far as the eye could see, the landscape was full of lines of vines because this is vineyard country and it's quite a spectacular view. In the fading afternoon sun shining low onto the colourful leaves, this photo inspired me to come up with this week's prompt.

Therefore, I'd like you to be inspired by lines.

You might have a set of photos similar to mine linked to specific landscape or countryside. Perhaps it's line relating to rocks, waves, mountains or clouds. It could be a child practicing their handwriting on pre-drawn lines. Lines of people, lines in drawings or art in general, what about architecture. There might be some lined supplies that you've been itching to use or a page design that you'd like to give a try this week. Stories about lines - school maybe or theatre? I think there are several different ways to take this prompt and as always, I'd love to see where your inspiration goes.

Straight, diagonal curly, wiggly or parallel lines - so many directions to take!

Stitched and grid lines not to mention lines of words

Lines of patterned paper in a row

Lines of washi tape in a border effect

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. 

#137 - be inspired by favourite flavours & #259 - be inspired by fussy cutting

I made this layout some weeks ago but just haven't got around to sharing which is crazy but unfortunately true. I'm trying to catch up with a whole load of shares! I think I have ten or so so watch this space for more. And don't forget that there are more than 300 prompts for your inspiration so why not have a look through our "back catalogue" to see if something jumps out at you!

You can find the full list here on the blog on the "Whimsical Musings past prompts" page and I've just uploaded the list in three files over on our FB group. Go to the Whimsical Musings group here and then check out the pinned "announcements" - each prompt links through to the original post on the blog.

This layout was made during the Scrap Happy mini-LOAD818 and used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit from August, Heatwave (l/o #2) AND fulfils TWO WM prompts WM#137 - be inspired by favourite flavours and WM#259 - be inspired by fussy cutting. Phew. That's a whole lot of challenges right there in one page!

I couldn't believe that I hadn't actually made a fussy cutting layout specifically with Whimsical Musings in mind (even though I do fussy cutting all the time) and let's face it, strawberries are probably on the list of favourite flavours for the majority of people.

I kept it really simple by cutting out the large florals from a Crate Paper sheet and then just layered them up to frame the beautiful photos of my summer loving nieces! I included a small piece of red paper as a nod to the strawberries and kept the remaining embellies to a scatter of enamel dots and a few additional die cut leaves.

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... :-)

Challenge #297 - week of 23rd July 2018

Is it hot where you are? We're suffering from a really long, hot heatwave here in Europe and honestly, I'm melting! I can manage some days of 30°C but weeks? Not so much! All the grass is parched brown and unfortunately there's a high risk of forest fires or even just field fires.

So the lure of all things cold - drinks, air conditioning, salads, water or ice cream - is definitely on my mind.

And therefore, while I was wandering around the newsagent shop at the station, this magazine really caught my eye. It's something that I use in my job as it's a publication for German learners of English but I was impressed by how modern and fun they've made this issue.

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by this cover design.

There's a lot to love here - the colours, the patterns, the individual shapes, the font in the middle there, the overall layout, the fact that it's ice cream! Take any of these for your inspiration and go for it. Summer layouts here we come.

I hope you can find somewhere to take this this week and 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 #260 - week of 5th June 2017

Happy Monday and Happy June! Here's to another month full of sunshine, inspiration and hopefully, some creating too.

Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time in Spain and while I was there, I had a little time in Barcelona. Now I promise you that the trip to Barcelona was planned and booked first but imagine my overwhelming joy when I heard that a certain exhibition about a certain musical hero of mine that I'm still obsessing about was going to open on the day we arrived. Of course, I had to go online on the first morning of ticket sales to secure a ticket for myself for the first opportunity I could get there - early on the very next morning!

As you can imagine, it was fabulous and I'm still overcome with joy and sadness and hero worshipness - again.

So this week, I'd like you to be inspired by the poster for the exhibition.

The poster features just one of the many iconic images of this incredible man as his alter ego Aladin Sane, by Bowie photographer Duffy.

There are several ways you could take this inspiration and maybe I need to make a layout for each one! There's the lightening flash which could be incorporated into your design, or maybe just the colours. There's the layout design or the font - several to choose from. The exhibition originated from the V&A Museum in London and the current one is is Barcelona so a travel layout could make an appearance. The music direction is an obvious one as is the subject of the great man himself. Or perhaps, you'd like to take the "David Bowie is... " idea and adapt it to a subject of your own. The exhibition is a retrospective which gives a further option. See, I told you there were several!

Whichever way you see the inspiration this week, I'd love you to share and as always you can either upload your layout into the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#260 or you can post it in our Whimsical Musings Facebook group. We've decided that we'll save albums for special occasions so just load up your photo to the group with the tag WM#260 in the write up text so that we can find it.

Challenge #206 week of 28th March 2016

Well, yesterday was Resurrection Sunday!

  So much of the Spring/Easter seasonal decor & fashions
 showcase... Polka Dots!

I found a few past layouts featuring this classic pattern. I was surprised to notice
how much the size & order of the dots impacts the mood of the design.

The uber-orderly arrangement makes it read almost as a rainbow stripe.

Confetti-style = FUN!

GINORMOUS (and bright) is another way to say "fun"!

Sheer & orderly with a tear through to the image beneath - a mystery revealed!

Glittered edges really pops these dots!

As above, these dots with patterned centers add some extra interest.

A somewhat subtle color lends texture to the background.

The small size of these dots give a little movement to the page.

Document something from your celebration this past week & be inspired by polka dots!

Don't forget that there are two ways to share:

• the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery here
• the Whimsical Musings Facebook group here

Tag your photo with the challenge number WM#206 so that we can find them. 

You can find all the previous prompts on the blog -

 more than 200 inspirational ideas to get you scrapping!

Challenge #142 week of 20th October 2014

Ever behind as usual, this post is coming to you a few hours later than it should :-(

And being late reminds me that I haven't forgotten about the prize draw from last month - watch this space for the name being pulled out of the hat!

It might not have escaped your attention that life is somewhat "hectic" at the moment for me. I seem to be going round and round in circles of chaos! Yes, there is progress, but I feel a bit like that poor nocturnal hamster constantly running round and round in his little wheel!

So let that be your inspiration this week. No, not hamsters, but rather circles!

Just a few ideas that spring to mind are a photo of something circular, circular page design, circular embellishments or picking up on the theme of the "round and round in circles" - be that in the form of a little chaos in your life or the nursery rhyme "Round and Round the Garden"!

Which way will you take round the prompt today? (pun intended!)

We hope you'll share over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr group gallery (here) with the tag WM#142. We appreciate every single one of our readers and followers and are always thrilled to see new layouts in the gallery! 

Challenge # 77 week of February 11th, 2013

Hello ladies.

This week's challenge was inspired by a free new class at two peas in a bucket: In the Mood to Scrap. It is a weekly series where several artists create a mood board for inspiration and then draw from that to create a layout. I have been super into the idea ... so I thought, why not give it a try myself?

In honor of Valentine's day this week, I decided to come up with a super lovey dovey board. But of course, you can make your layout about whatever you like. In fact, I probably won't be making it about a romantic subject since I am 100% single and don't really celebrate the holiday. But hearts and bright happy colors make me swoon so I love this time of year.

1. // 2. // 3. // 4. // 5. // 6. // 7. 

You can access each image by clicking the links above. I decided to go for a mix of happy colors, hand drawn typography, ombre hearts, glitter, lots of hearts and a touch of trendy blackboard elements... not to mention a few flowers for good measure. I don't know about you but that image just makes me want to scrap. So that is your challenge. Draw inspiration from that collage - from one element or a few or all. 

You may have noticed this week fell out of sequence in our weekly switch-off. But ever since I missed my week in January I have felt off. The truth is I dislike even numbers so I wanted to get back to the odd ones and begged Lisa to let me catch up. Next week we will be back to our regular schedule.

Enjoy and see you on the message boards.

xo,

Pamage

#58 Inspired by the Roaring Twenties

I thought this was such a cool prompt I really wanted to do it justice. I wanted to find an aspect of this era that spoke to me. I searched art deco on google and pinterest. The results were heavy with fonts and photos of buildings in NYC. 

For a little bit I considered making a page about Rockerfeller Center and the Empire State Building. I even had the title. But today, I decided to focus my attention to the other aspect of this prompt - the roaring twenties and the great Gatsby.

And thus my layout was born.



Even as I typed the words "roaring twenties" I knew I would have to make a page about this decade of my life which is coming to an end.  

 
I searched easily on my memory drive for photos of me every year since 2003 and cropped them all to the same size and added the same action to them.

Tip: when scrapping multiple photos from different times, add the same action or filter to all the photos for a more cohesive effect. I did this easily by adding all my photos to the same document in PSE and then applying the effect to the document.

 
My internet search also turned up many great fonts reminiscent of that era. This one is called Andes and can be downloaded for free {:http://www.dafont.com/andes.font}. I also thought it'd be a nice touch to add a Fitzgerald quote, so I searched brainyquotes.com and found a fitting one. 

 
I felt with all the busyness of the page I needed to add elements that made it feel like me, so although I asked an art deco background paper, the embellishments were pretty current and in my style. 

How did you do this week?

Would love to see your creations uploaded and tagged WM#58.

I'll be back Monday with a new prompt.

xo,
Pamage

Challenge # 53 - Week of August 20, 2012

Well, we are off to a late start, but a start nonetheless to our second year.

And to give you a chance to catch up with some of those older prompts (remember our drawing for a prize at the end of the month) I am keeping this week fairly simple.

What do these layouts have in common?

So have you guessed what it is? The challenge is to use a grid. You can really fit a lot of pictures this way and you can keep a clean look or embellish as much as you'd like. Lisa and I have very different styles, yet both of us make use of this tool to make layouts that pack a punch in terms of pictures. 

and in case you think all grids have to be square, you can visit this page by Lisa {here}. For that extra whimsical touch, try to come up with a grid that is not square - either in the shape of the photos or the resulting shape. Twist it a little and make it fit your story and needs. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

... so go on and give it a try. The gallery is already brimming with plenty of examples, but if you have one you always default to share it with us on the boards. Remember to share your layouts with us and tag them WM#53.

Have a great week.

xo,

Pamage

Challenge # 51 - Week of August 6th, 2012

Hello! Welcome back to our little blog {who is almost celebrating it's one year anniversary}


the prompt for this week was born Sunday morning as I was in the car playing co-pilot, DJ and toll funds administrator. I looked down at my lap and noticed this message on the inside of my phone cover pictured below. Then I simultaneously noticed my nails, wallet and pants - and chuckled to myself. I kid you not, this photo was not staged in any way. I was wearing bright yellow pants, "Who the Shrek Are You" nail polish and had my purple wallet and pink Kate Spade phone cover out. Coincidence? Totally. Surprising? Not at all.


 


So you may have guessed it, your prompt this week is to be inspired by the phrase "Live Colorfully". In compiling my monthly collage of photos on my personal blog {here} I came to the realization that I lead quite a colorful life. The colors and patterns I use on my pages surround my everyday life. Polka dots, stripes and whimsical flower prints in all my happy colors cover everything I own. Clearly this prompt will not be hard for me. 


But if you are intimidated by color and your personal style or house decor is more muted beiges and classic whites, then I challenge you to consider these additional ways in which you can indeed live colorfully. Both prints below, as well as the slogan, belong to Kate Spade and her line. 

Live Colorfully

... and this one

Live Colorfully

I love all the ideas in the second print. So you don't have to limit yourself to just dressing or decorating with bright colors. The concept of "colorfully" is much bigger than that and I truly live to embody it. Let's take a little time this week to examine how we or those around us put this into practice.


I cannot wait to see what you all come up with this week while we celebrate our more colorful sides. And in the spirit of celebration, wear something colorful this week and share with us! Remember to tag this as WM#51 and check this space next Sunday for our interpretation.


xo,
Pamage

#47 Inspired by large photos

well, like I said, I have no problems using large photos. I think is a useful story telling tool and I turn to it from time to time.

However, I love enlargements so much that they hardly sit in my "to scrap" pile for long. I knew making this challenge that I would have to print a new picture for this. 

I like my pictures to be really large and good quality. So I usually don't print at home. Even if I can overlook the quality issue, the largest my printer can handle is 8x10. The new challenge for Simple Scrapper called for a freestyle grid and I used that Template/Sketch provided by Simple Scrapper (which will be posted the first week in August).

 That gave me the idea that I could use this tutorial by Elise Blaha from {enJOY it} to print my own 9x9 photo.

titi pam loves u 2 pieces

I thought the title fit the page quite nicely, because the picture was all cut up. You can still appreciate the main parts of the photo despite the cuts. Granted, this technique  works best with divided page protectors... but for the perfectionists out there, you can really line up the photos better and still get a seamless look. I just preferred the puzzle look.

I took an uninteresting corner of the photo off and replaced it with a smaller photo which I printed and cut with my large round punch. this draws the eye around the page.

I balanced it all with the title placement on the bottom left corner which creates diagonal interest - a little design tip I picked up from Shimelle's video.

i also added the journaling right on top of another uninteresting corner of the photo. 

i am so glad this story is in my books and i know that little smile will make me grin every time i flip through those pages.

Thanks for joining us for another week of Whimsical Musings. We are getting so close to our anniversary! If you joined in, we would love to see your work on our gallery with the tag (WM#47).

xo,

Pamage

Challenge # 47 - Week of July 9th, 2012

This is Pam here again with another (hopefully) fun challenge for you this week.

First, I have a few pages from my archives to show you. What do these pages have in common?

Well, besides the round elements, I hope the most obvious element were the Oversized Photos. Often large pictures scare us into a corner since it is such a large element to incorporate that the task may seem daunting. However, it is not much different than having a large block of photos. In fact, that is a tip I often use when creating my pages with oversized photos based on a sketch. I look for blocks of photos I can combine into one image.

Yes, you guessed it, the challenge for this week is to use an oversized picture. I consider anything larger than 4x6 "oversized" - You will notice I work with a variety of sizes and some of them irregular. So, go ahead, pull out your 5x7, 6x8, 8x10 or any other combination thereof and get to playing. This is the perfect excuse to finally use up all those professional shots we always order enlargements of and then have in a folder collecting dust. Or go ahead and print up a picture you just adore specifically for this challenge.

And why don't you add a few more pictures in the process? I don't limit my oversized photo use to single photos layouts. The page above used 7 photos without looking too crowded. You are welcome to use as many photos as you like, just make one of them larger. It is a strong storytelling tool and I think you'll enjoy it. If you need extra help along the way, here is a recent Glitter Girl adventure which tackled this topic {here}. And of course, we are always on the message boards to discuss and chat with you and how you are taking on the challenge. 

Remember to share with us on the gallery which is linked above with the tag WM#47. Until next week.

xo,

Pamage