Challenge #339 - week of 18th November 2019

Oh no! It's another calendar based prompt today - can you forgive me?

It's my birthday week and while I've done a couple of birthday focussed challenges in the past (WM#16 - be inspired by your birthday and WM#111 - be inspired by a "special" birthday), let's take it in a broader way this morning.

Be inspired by a wish list

Now, I really think that you can interpret this in different ways and many of them have nothing to do with birthdays

• Wish lists could be for birthdays, Christmas, weddings or special occasions
• You could have a travel wish list that you'd like to record
• Did you receive or achieve something on your wish list that could be captured
• Use a list on your page
• Use list products 
• Children often have long lists for these times of years and that could be a story to put on your layout
• And of course, there's always the "wish" part of the prompt that could be the focus. What wishes do you have, what do you wish for those you love, what would you do if you were given three wishes by a fairy godmother?

I knew exactly which layout I wanted to feature in this post today but of course, I can't find a photo of it so this one featuring a list will have to do. But then it IS Bowie so that's better than anything ;-) 

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

Have a great day everyone!

Challenge #338 - week of 11th November 2019

Another calendar inspired prompt for this November Monday morning - I'm hoping to get off the calendar in the next weeks!

As many countries around the world stop to take a moment to remember those fallen in conflict as part of Remembrance Day commemorations, my thoughts turned to the famously sad and evocative poem that is often read aloud after the two minutes of silence.

Be inspired by "In Flanders Fields"

In Flanders Fields

By John McCrea

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Which ways could we interpret this today?

• The words of the poem
• A visit to Flanders or the Allied beaches northern Europe
• Recording details of a family member who served in times of conflict or perhaps a current member of the military
• Finding a moment or two of silence in our busy days and what that means for you
• How you mark this day in your own way, country, culture
• Your love of poetry or a school memory related to poems of some sort
• Products that feature poppies or pops of bright red or photo realistic fields

I hope this gives you some ideas of ways to take this prompt - we don't need to make a sad page but a little nostalgia from time to time gives us time to reflect and this may be the week to bring that to our projects.

Our previous prompts based around Remembrance Day can be found here

• WM#109 - be inspired by Remembrance Day
• WM#236 - be inspired by the Remembrance Day poppy
• WM#311 - be inspired by Lest We Forget

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

Have a great day everyone!

Challenge #337 - week of 4th November 2019

It seems as if I'm constantly looking at the calendar for prompt ideas - especially at this time of year. But there really is so much inspiration right there that it's hard to resist and so I find myself turning to my calendar again this week.

I've talked about Guy Fawkes Night before, which is celebrated on the 5th November in the UK - you can find my original prompt here WM#144 - be inspired by fireworks - so I just want to take an element of that for this week.

Be inspired by fire.

With the darker nights and colder weather, I think this is a good challenge for this season.

I made this layout about our daily evening activity in Canada of sitting round the campfire at the end of the day and to be honest, I could probably make a whole bunch of these about the trip!

But you could think about the following ways to take the prompt:

• for winter layouts you could think about cosy evenings in front of the fire at home or trendy winter BBQs as well as bonfires for Bonfire Night 
• for summer layouts, fire could cover everything BBQ or fire-pit related 
• traditional medieval markets might be lit by fire
• you might have seen a circus act featuring a fire eater who you'd like to feature
• maybe something motivates you so much that you feel you have fire in your belly?
• sitting round the campfire in the same way I've documented above
• maybe you want to think about fire colours - the reds, oranges and yellows - for your colour scheme or product selection
• I'm sure there are lots of die cut files featuring fires which could be a fun way to take the challenge 

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

Have a great day everyone!

Challenge WM#336 - week of 28th October 2019

A short week for me here in Germany with Friday being a Bank Holiday for All Saints' Day and of course, who isn't happy with a four-day work week? That seems a good way to start the week. How are you today?

This week, I'm once again looking at the calendar with Thursday evening being Halloween. It's not such a big event here in Germany although the shops certainly seem pretty full of themed items this year. But I wanted to at least decorate a little and got my box out of the cellar to see what I had - a bit of a sort out of things that I really don't need any more and I'm left with a small selection of pretties, most of which were created using scrappy product. Good to get some Halloween products used up!

In the past, I've marked this point on the calendar in a variety of ways -

• WM#12 - be inspired by "scary"
• WM#190 - be inspired by pumpkins
• WM#309 - be inspired by a candy colour scheme 

So how to mark it in 2019? Well, how about quite traditionally but in a way that I know can be taken in a million different directions.

Let's be inspired by "Trick or Treat"

Now, I'm not going to actually give you a "million" different directions to take this prompt but you could try:

• a traditional Halloween page about costumes, decorations, a particular year, the traditions you have, the sweets your kids collect, what you did as a child, favourite memories from this time of year
• what about your favourite sweet treats that you hoped to collect from the neighbourhood when you went trick or treating
• or maybe you played a Halloween trick on someone - or worse, were the victim of a trick from the local kiddies!
• how about your favourite sweet treats at any time of the year
• or how you were tricked in a good, or maybe less good, way
• the story of a practical joker in your family
• cakes, desserts, confectionary or even drinks could be the subject this week
• you could make a "trick" on your page with something interactive or hidden or with a double meaning
• use up your sweet themed products
• record how you treat yourself when you're in need of a pick up

Not quite a million, but a few to get you thinking!

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 #WMXXX (with the number of the prompt instead of the XXX) 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 #288 - week of 21st May 2018

My excuse this week? It was a Bank Holiday yesterday which means I totally lost the fact that it was Monday!

But it was a wonderful weekend in my neck of the woods and this is my inspiration for this week.

I would like you to be inspired by weddings!

Yes, it was the "Royal Wedding of the Year" last Saturday. Now, that might not be such a big deal for you but it was a huge thing for this fan of all things royal and I blocked the whole day in my diary to spend hours in front of the TV with champagne, scones and Coronation Chicken. Loved it!

Of course you can take this prompt in your own wedding direction. That of your children, a vintage layout featuring parents, grandparents or even older ancestors? Maybe you have a wedding themed collection of papers that you would just love to use - a nuptial layout or not. Perhaps comparing your own wedding with the dreams of you childhood self. A wish-filled future wedding maybe? Or just a bringing together of two things that are destined to be. Several directions to go this week.

If you're inspired to create this week, don't forget that you can add your own creations to our Facebook group here - we love it when you share so 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... :-)