#312 - be inspired by friends

I had a bunch of layout share blog posts half written up which I seem to have forgotten so here I am again in an attempt to catch up. Story of my life!

This layout, very surprisingly, hasn't been made with a Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit! I think I had some new product and just decided to use it right away. However, it has been made for my Simple Scrapper Creative Team using a new Story Starter™ as well as a recent sketch.

It's another layout recording details of our Scrapabilly Advent Present Swap which has now been extended to include Easter and summer (as well as autumn which we are currently in the middle of). The main focus is really the pretty packaging with fun content and with a group of crafty types, you can guarantee that the presents looks as pretty as can be. Yes, we really get each other - I'm so lucky to have been taken into this fabulous group of women. They make me happy every week.

These scrummy letters are actually a fabulous shade of rose gold.

With the gorgeous background paper and the sprinkle of mist, I really didn't think it needed much embellishment.

And I picked up these letters too in the summer from the UK and I love that the foam is a shade of aqua.

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 #WMXXX (replacing the XXX with the prompt number) so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken. 

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

** This post includes promotion for Simple Scrapper's premium subscription membership for which I am on the Creative Team.

Challenge #301 - week of 27th August 2018

It's hard to believe we're coming to the end of August now and after the many many weeks of hot, summery weather, I'm happy that it's cooling down and we even have rain this morning. Everything feels fresh again and I have renewed energy - let's see if I can use that for getting through chores and even some creativity!

Last week, I was busy showing my mum around a part of Germany that she hasn't been to before and therefore missed my WM meet up here on the blog but I'm back again with a prompt close to my heart!

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by supplies that you just HAD to have!

As you know, I'm lucky enough to have a LSS in the form of Scrapabilly just a short drive away. We have a crop there most Thursday evenings which is wonderful for my creativity and crafty friendships but not so good for my ability to resist a little scrapbook supply therapy from time to time!

Sometimes it's just a piece of paper or two. Sometimes it's something important like adhesive or cardstock and sometimes - and you know what's coming! - it's just something I HAVE to have! And sometimes that means that I might take something home that is out of my usual scrapbook repertoire.

These days, I like to think that I pick my supplies carefully so that I know that I will use what I buy. In the early days I bought a lot that caught my eye but never used it and these items have since been donated to schools, friends and my niece! I know what I like, I know what I will use and I know what type of things are gorgeous or sweet but not really "for me". I'm not a cutesy scrapbooker and tend to be attracted to more graphic or floral designs. In some collections, I will just pick up one or two sheets of paper having learnt my lesson over the years.

So when I saw the "Dream Big" collection by Simple Stories, I knew it wasn't for me. I picked up the puffy stickers to take home with me and thought that was it! But the others in the group had the die cuts or various sheets of paper in their hands and I commented at how lovely these were. So of course, I had to go and have a closer look. Tikki girls in grass skirts, mercats, unicorns, cupcakes, rainbows... lovely but not really my style. Yes there were stars, stripes and florals which I loved and words that were fun as well as hearts and super sweet mini stickers that would be great for cards.

And then the whole collection was in my hand and suddenly, it all belonged to me. I just couldn't bear not to bring it with me! I needed it all. And I have no idea how I'll use it. Which is where today's prompt comes in.

Your own "must have" supplies might be like mine - something out of character - or they might be just sooooo special that you've been afraid to make the first cut. Maybe it's something that you can't get anymore or just something that you saw and resistance was futile! Whatever type of products you have that fit into this category, fish them out and try to make something with them this week - you know you'll be glad when you do because you'll have a page made with products you love. How could that not be a win-win?


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 #257 - week of 15th May 2017

Ok, better late than never! Somehow the beginning of the week slipped away from me but here I am and I've got a hot prompt for you :-)

Here in the west of Germany, we had a scorching hot day yesterday - it felt like the middle of summer. Everyone was out soaking up the rays and enjoying life outdoors. Just for one day! Today, it's overcast and wet, but yesterday gave everyone hope of better days to come.

Now I found it almost too hot - after just a few hours - but it reminded me of the Palm Beach by My Mind's Eye collection I just picked up from Scrapabilly and a prompt was born.

Now, we've had pineapples (WM#167) and even flamingos (WM#231) but this week, I'd like you to be inspired by palm trees!

Isn't this paper gorgeous with the gold leaf palm trees and look at that gold sticker! I love it and hope that you will join in on the tropical feeling this week.

I might well be using this paper line as my response to the kit and if you had something similar, you could head that way. Or maybe you've had a holiday somewhere tropical at some point? What about your dream tropical beach holiday where you'd be heading the moment you won the lottery? Or perhaps you've had a themed party that needs recording. I'm sure you can think of other ways to take this hot and steamy prompt this week and whichever way that is, don't forget to share!

You can either upload your layout into the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#257 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#257 in the write up text so that we can find it.

Challenge #231 - week of 26th September 2016

I've been saving this prompt for some time. But if I leave it too long, the trend will be gone and it will be too late!

But sometimes, I don't want to use up all my "good" prompts at once! Or rather, maybe I should say, my own favourite prompts...

I'd like to challenge you to use a very on-trend motif. It's pink and can be found in home decor as well as scrapbook products these days! Can you guess?

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

I've been collecting some flamingo items over the last few months from Scrapabilly but either I've been reluctant to use it up because it's all so adorable, or I don't really know how to incorporate flamingos into my everyday layouts! I've never been anywhere with flamingos for example, nor do I have any particular affinity with them - outside the scrapbook stash I'm hoarding keeping for that special layout. So I'll be stretching my creative muscles with this prompt alongside all of you!

It would appear that I have far more flamingo supplies than any single scrapper should have!

I did manage to use a few foam flamingos and she small elements last year on two Scrapabilly layouts but I had to stretch why I was using them in my mind!

So, how will you find a way to bring flamingos to your scrapping this week? I can't wait to be inspired by you!

We'd love you use this prompt and hope you will share your creations - there are now two ways to do this!

You can either upload your layout into the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#231 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#231 in the write up text so that we can find it.

#228 - be inspired by growing things

Prompt WM#228 asked you to be inspired by growing things and I have to admit that that bright red tomato I featured in the post had already been made up into a layout for the Scrapabilly August Kit des Monats. It would have been cheating to use it as my layout for this prompt but just in case you missed it over at my personal blog, here it is for you:

So, having made this one about my wonderfully successful tomatoes, I knew I had to come up with something else. We've got a lot growing round here so it didn't take long to find another story, matching photos and a suitable layout:

I used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge September kit, Sundance and while it's a little tongue in cheek, I'm rather pleased with my ironic title. Fun stuff. And even though it was a bit of a squash, I managed to fit three photos onto the page with one of my favourite designs - the off centre band, which can be horizontal or vertical. It seems to work every time.

Do you have a go-to design for certain numbers of photos or topics?

We love it when you share too and you can do that at either of our Whimsical Musings groups which can be found at Flickr (here) or over at Facebook (here). Whichever is better for you is great for us. We will find you! Tag your layouts with WM#XXX so that we know which prompt you followed.

#217 - inspired by "your vibe attracts your tribe"

Back in June (WM#217), Leslie asked us to be inspired by this...

... and I loved it right away.

My creative friends really are my tribe. We understand each other. We are there for each other. They are some of the best friends you could ever have and I'm so grateful for the chance to call these wonderful women, my friends.

And of course, from time to time, I've had the chance to get to meet them in real life. What a thrill that's been. 7 and counting so far...

I've made layouts about meeting them over the last couple of years but this layout was specifically prompted by Leslie's quotation. Fellow Master Forger Julene was in Europe on a river cruise up the Rhine and so of course, Cologne was the perfect meeting point. We only had a few hours together but it was great to get to know each other for "real" and to show her a little of my new home country.

I used the August Scrapabilly Kit des Monats (you can check it out at the shop here) featuring the gorgeously bright and happy Let's Party collection by Echo Park as well as die cuts from the Carpe Diem collection by Simple Stories. This was a fabulous layout to make and features those totally scrap worthy colourful buildings in Cologne!

I meant to share it before but am missing a lot of follow through at the moment! Better late than never. I have plans to be better... let's see.

Don't forget that if you follow one of our - now - 227 prompts, we'd love you to share with us either over at our Flickr group (here) or in our Facebook group (here). Just tag it with the number of the prompt you've used and we'll find you! (WM#XXX)

#167 - inspired by pineapples

This was a prompt long, long ago!

And I knew directly exactly what I was going to do for the page - I wanted to record the incredible pure pineapple Pina Coladas I get from the best barman in the world right here at home. I organised fresh pineapple and ordered the aforementioned Pinas. We even decorated them and took photos. And then the photos sat on my computer. I kept seeing them as a reminder to myself to get the page done but somehow it never happened.

So imagine my joy when I received the July Scrapabilly kit which features Beach Day by Carta Bella. All sorts of lovely with tropical themed items and yes, you guessed it, pineapples! There's even a cute matching pineapple washi tape which I decided that I had to have as an add on for the kit as well as the collection enamel dots.

Last summer, I'd even downloaded a batch of pineapples at the Silhouette store and knew that I wanted to use one of them somehow here on my page.

I brought all these ideas together for this page.

These two papers were perfect to back the pineapple elements - love how that turned out.

So happy to have finally made this layout that had been in my head for so long, and to finally be able to share it here with you.

Challenge #204 - inspired by Tiffany Blue

As promised, I'd like to share a layout I made on the last day of LOAD216 which has been a long time in the making.

I think my problem is often in the execution of my prompts - I often immediately have a story or an idea, even think about which of my kits to use that might have the ideal colours etc but then, I come to a standstill. I have to find photos. Or take photos. Or think about where the memorabilia is. Or make something that isn't for an assignment so that it can be shared.

All excuses but this really is often the case.

For the Tiffany Blue prompt - WM#204 - I had so many stories that it sort of inhibited me to actually pick out a photo and product and get going with it. In the end, I decided to just take a photo to match where it all began. And take it from there.

The result is this page.

A few things to note here. First up, this is the first page I've made just for me, not using a kit for a LONG time! Usually, when I scrap, I use my Scrapabilly kits or my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits and am "limited" to using what's included in those kits. Sometimes, the stories I want to tell don't match the feel the papers or products have and I get hung up on not telling the story until I have those "right" colours or patterns. To be honest, this is one of those stories. But then I spotted the brand new Pinkfresh Studio papers that I'd just picked up at Scrapabilly and decided that I had to find a way to use them to tell this story. Just because I wanted to. They are new and pretty and were calling my name.

Then there was the photo itself. Not particularly stellar but made better by using a filter and a bokeh effect but which adjusted that Tiffany Blue to much more of a blue! I don't know if you have the same discussions with the men in your life, but mine swears this particular blue is more of a green and as you know, Tiffany certainly doesn't call it Tiffany Green! But he would definitely approve of the blue in the photo.

I matched up the photo with some of the simpler patterns found in this collection and then realised just how green that paper was in the background. Funny - I have a photo that's too blue and a paper that's too green but I really wanted to give a nod to the original tone of that infamous packaging.

The tissue paper confetti which I punched from the Scrapabilly wrapping came to the rescue and matched up with the box and pouch perfectly. I guess I could say that this fulfils with the current Whimsical Musings prompt WM#215 to use tissue paper too!

I had treated myself to several of the items in the collection including the puffy elements and this half-gold frame is so gorgeous that I just had to use it straight away. I kept the journalling in subtle gold so that it didn't distract too much from the design and the pretty photo.

That little heart embellishment was also a perfect match to the Tiffany Blue and the messy gold thread softened up the more linear feel to the papers I'd used.

I'm sure I have more to share so I'll see what I can find and post again soon.

Thanks for dropping by.

Let's Celebrate - WM #200 Guest Designer Kathy

Welcome to day 5 of our Whimsical Musings WM#200 celebrations!

Today, I'm thrilled to have Kathy as Guest Designer.

I know Kathy through Scrap Happy and via LOAD. We connected. I do that a lot! We chatted via email, exchanged cards, admired each other's work and generally became firm internet friends. So imagine my delight when she informed me that she was travelling to Europe and could we meet up? What can a girl do? Travel to London to spend two days together of course! We had an incredible time and chatted away for what felt like days and days, as if we'd been friends for years. It was a wonderful time and really sums up for me what strong relationships we build through this hobby. I've long admired Katyh's pages which often feature her extensive travels - I live vicariously! I was happy to persuade her to join in with our 200 prompt celebrations with an ulterior motive of initiating her into the WM family! Join me in welcoming her today:

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WM #14 - be inspired by maps

So many interesting prompts to choose from but this one jumped out at me. I love maps of any kind but have actually never made a LO using one. However, I found it to be challenging as I didnʼt want to cover up the map at all. Hence, all the tiny photos. This prompt was also perfect for the upcoming LOAD theme of travel and also a little nod to Valentineʼs Day with the addition of the heart.

My hubby and I took a road trip to Lake Louise/Banff in October 2013. Perfect time of year to do that with all the fall foliage. It was one of those vacations where you arenʼt expecting anything and it turns out to be one of the best. It is beautiful country... if you havenʼt been, put it on your bucket list!

Nothing too fancy about this LO. I used the Tim Holtz Adventure Thinlits for the title, Basic Grey Carte Postale flair button and the Tim Holtz Dot Fade stencil for the background.

Journalling:

Banff and Lake Louise...Honestly, I cannot think of a prettier place than Lake Louise. The stunning aqua color of the lake against the snow covered mountains. No words. I have always wanted to go there so when Bruce got a week off it was a perfect destination.

Who Am I?

When Lisa asked if she could “feature” me on the WM site, I was quite surprised (but honored) as I have only lurked and never participated. But, being a big fan of Lisaʼs, both personally and scrapping wise, how could I say no???

So, here goes...My name is Kathy and I go by codaKathy on the boards. I live in the Pacific Northwest part of the United States, am married (28 years), have 2 sons in their 20ʼs (both have jobs :) ) and have one cat (would have many more if there wasnʼt such a stigma to being a cat lady). I have many loves...birding, reading, quilting and Xstitching, traveling, dancing, music. And, of course, scrapping.

Iʼve been scrapping for a long time but Iʼd say that participating in LOAD (Layout A Day) in February 2012 was a turning point for me. It was the first time Iʼd participated in an online group and it did 3 things for me. One, it introduced me to so many inspiring scrapping styles, to so many creative ways of scrapping...at that point, I had no idea what flair or bling was or layering, oh, my!). Two, it made me think about and write about my story more. And three, it introduced me to the world of online friendships that even sometimes turn into in real life friendships, to the people who really ”get” why I scrap!

I am a slow scrapper, I over think EVERYTHING (in real life,too). I am definitely techie challenged (I would love a Silhouette but that is connected to the computer, better not!). I have way too many supplies (scrapper disease). BUT I do love this obsession...and I am happy to be included in this group of Whimsical Musers! 

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I'm so happy that Kathy agreed to join in and with a page about Lake Louise including maps, how could I not be in love with this layout?!? Having spent my Sugarmoon there, I can only concur with her love of the place.

Thanks Kathy for jumping on board for me! You made me a happy girl.

Don't forget to check out the other posts this week and join in over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr group here or the Facebook group here. We'd love to see you there!

#183 - inspired by teddy bears

I knew I wanted to do a layout about "My Rosie" when I put up the prompt some weeks ago and even moved her into my room and took some photos. But it took me some time to get around to putting my plan into action! 

So when the February Scrapabilly Kit des Monats (find out all about this and the other two kits over on my personal blog here along with the remaining four layouts I made using the kit) landed at my door, I just knew that the gorgeously pretty papers would be perfect to document my pretty cow!

The journalling says it all but in case you can't read it - we went on holiday to Austria and stayed in a beautiful, traditional alpine hotel which was friendly and welcoming and just like staying with friends. They had a sweet souvenir shop which I checked out and promptly fell in love with Rosie (I named her there and then!) but I didn't buy her, merely dropping huge hints to my husband that I loved her. Imagine my disappointment the next morning when I realised that she wasn't there in the shop any more :-( I was truly sad but there'd been a family in the shop at the same time and I assumed that they'd bought her. Of course, I should have known better! On the last day of our trip, Rosie was presented to me as a parting gift! He'd gone down to get her that very evening and she'd been hidden in his brother's room the whole week. 

Now that's what I call a happy ending!

For this layout, I got very creative and actually also met the prompt WM#84 - be inspired by the trend for ombré with my misting.

I had a spotty background cut by the cameo that I used as a mask and selected three different pinks and a reddish mist for the custom background. I don't get messy and wet very often on my pages these days - apart from a little splatting - and am really happy with the effect this gave it. And the paper didn't warp so much either which is a double win in my book.

You can get a better look at the missing here - I did add some gold splats on top too just for good measure! I added in the glitter washi tape to the kit to give it some extra bling. You can find the washi in the Scrapabilly shop here.

Don't forget to check in every day this week to see how Whimsical Musings is celebrating its 200th prompt. There's going to be WM friends sharing layouts and there's a chance to win some goodies too.

As always, if you are inspired by one of our prompts to create, then please share over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery here with the relevant tag WM#XX. We love to see what you make!

#163 - inspired by a Citrus Twist scrapbook sketch

It was great to have this sketch to work with on Thursday when I needed to produce three layouts in one evening. The sketch gave me a structure as well as a starting point, and actually stretched me to get a little messier than usual.

Here's the Citrus Twist sketch I gave you on Monday

And here's what I did with it.

I followed the sketch pretty closely with the circular element and the paper behind the photo strip. I misted through a stencil instead of the mesh and splatted some mist across the page too before adding some stars and a few enamel dots.

My circle is very messy using first a pen to make the base and then using the mist sprayer a bit like a paint brush to wipe the gold and green Heidi Swapp mist over the top. It's certainly not perfect and could be a little bigger in relation to the photos but I like the effect. You never know, I might actually have a second try with the sketch.

I used the Scrapabilly April kit featuring Pebbles Happy Day collection and embellishments, adding in a little mist and some small Mini Market letters.

I see a few layouts in the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery already for this prompt which makes me very happy so why not join in the fun over there and share your creation using this sketch? Don't forget to tag your layout WM#163 so that we can find it!