#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 58 week of 24th September 2012

Today is F Scott Fitzgerald's birthday. He was born on September 24th 1896 and in his short life wrote just 4 novels (along with many short stories), now considered to be the great American novels of the 1920s.

I adore "The Great Gatsby", the film of which I saw as an impressionable teenager and promptly fell in love with Robert Redford. It's a long time since I last read the book and am now tempted to run out and get a copy to dive right in.

I could have decided to make this week's prompt about your favourite book but instead, I'd like you to be inspired by the glorious age of the Flapper, the Charleston or Art Deco.

Be inspired by the Roaring Twenties!

We'd love to see your creations over in our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery {here} with the tag #WM58.

Have a great week everyone!

#57 inspired by song lyrics

Trust Pam to get our brains working this week - in a good way!

This week's prompt to be inspired to use song lyrics as part of our layout made me think all week. I had so many songs going through my head that were all possible ways to go and I had several layouts in my mind to create. I even knew the song and photo to use.

Then I sat down at my table today and I just knew which layout I had to make.

The song was the same but the subject and photo totally different. And while the design felt a little rushed and isn't perfect, I still love this layout about a very special friend of mine :-)

A perfect song telling her that I will always be there for her if she needs me.

This is one of my favourite songs of all time - mostly the Carole King version, although the James Taylor original certainly also gives me goosebumps! In fact, Tapestry is one of my favourites too and there are half a dozen songs on there which could have worked for this prompt. And the words to this song are just so classic. The perfect friendship song in fact.

Pam, thanks for giving me this opportunity this week to return my thanks to you for the friendship we have.

Which song spoke to you this week? Hope you share with us over at Flickr with the tag WM#57.

Have a great week everyone!

#57 inspired by Lyrics

Hello there!

Welcome to another week of layouts. I have two projects to share with you - and two song videos.

I discovered in living with the challenge this week that I listen to a lot of sad music! I had no idea. I could've used a number of songs that resonate with me at this time, but they were all sad and I wanted to make happy pages. I also listen to some pretty obscure artists and I wanted these pages to be songs that were easily recognizable to anyone who would see these pages. I feel we have such a strong connection to music and memories that if I could get you to hum or hear the song in your head, other emotions would surely be evoked.

I finally turned to online searches for inspiration and a quick google search of "best friendship songs" turned up {this page} and this song...

as soon as I settled on the song, I knew which friend and which photos I would scrap. The photos were taken 4 years apart, but I feel they represent the lyrics visually. 

This next page started off as a joke in my head... but after looking up the lyrics, I realized how fittingly they describe me right now. 

The layout itself started without a sketch or idea. I just started taping down washi tape in a pattern from the center out. But once I was done with the first half, I decided I didn't want to do the other half. Then I couldn't settle on a photo of me, so I square punched a bunch of them and laid them on the bottom. Next I added my title word by word from the bottom up and ended up with very little space for journaling the lyrics... so I just wrote on top of the washi. 

I just wrote out random lines from the song in no particular order.

I love it when things turn out like this. These days I rely so much on lifting designs and using sketches that I forget to rely on my own design skills and make pages that are truly born of my creativity.

Did you find songs to use as journaling?

If so, we would love to see them over at the gallery with the tage WM#57. I've already seen a couple and am in love with where this has taken you.

Until next week.

xo,
Pamage

Challenge # 57 - Week of September 17, 2012

You say Goodbye, and I say Hello.

Hello, Hello!

Well, I think you can probably guess what the prompt is for this week - Lyrics!

As a music lover, and more specifically a lover of Musicals, I often see my life in terms of words to a song. I find that these well written poems can better communicate what I am feeling but can't seem to put into words.

Take the examples below:

I know you have probably been challenged to use songs as a starting point before, but I want to challenge you to use the lyrics as your journaling. You can pick the entire song or a verse or just the chorus, but let those words speak your message. 

This challenge is meant to be about finding words in a song that convey our message, rather than making a page about a song. That song doesn't have to be tied to a person or even the photo. In my example "becuz U loved me", we never listened to that song together and it didn't have any significance between us. He probably didn't even like Celine Dion. But I found myself over and over thinking about these words in those weeks and so I put it down on a page. 

This challenge is all about borrowing someone else's words to tell our story. But let it take you wherever you want to go. 

I hope you have fun with this one and find songs that really add to the soundtrack of your life. If you make something, we would love to see it. Just remember to add the tag WM#57.

xo,

Pamage

#56 inspired by new products

Hello, friends. Like you I am guilty of shopping for more products that I will be able to use in this lifetime.

I am not one to keep new products stored to gaze at lovingly. The moment a box comes through my door it gets opened, most times with the packages being torn apart and sorted into their corresponding bins right away. I work almost exclusively from a three drawer unit which holds my newest products and embellishments. I rarely turn to my stash for products.

Therefore, my new stuff gets used up quite frequently and quickly. If it gets taken out of rotation then it has less of a chance of being used so I try to use things up.

However, sometimes I love something so much I am intimidated into not using it. I focused on those products to come up with the two pages I did.


On this layout, I kept it simple by using just one photo and then I went to town with all the unused embellishments. The banner chipboard from OA which matched the OA paper I had been afraid to use. The super cool doily which needed a "special page", all the sequins and flowers that came with my last Studio Calico kit and terrified me. The wood banners which went so well with the theme that I used up the whole pack. The gold washi that I received as part of a different kit. 

 

 

These were all things I would never use because I didn't know how. This prompt forced me to find ways to make them work and match and fit in. Yay!

For my next layout, the story was a little different. I had been hoarding every little bike themed paper for that special page I wanted to make for my goal this year of riding a bike. Month after month, my Studio Calico kits contained some bike related elements and I would stash it away thinking I needed to save it for that special page. Eventually I went out and took the pictures that would match with the papers but then I didn't have a sketch to do the products and pictures justice.

I detest that feeling - that the scrapbook page is more important than the story being captured. So I knew I would take this week's challenge as my opportunity to just get it done! I grabbed my papers and just cut them, inked them, glued them, distressed them, etc and made a page.  

 

 

 

hope you were brave too and decided to cut up into you new stash and make a dent in it.

Have a great week.

xo,
Pamage

#56 inspired by new stash

I went to my LSS on Friday evening and bought waaay too much new stuff. But the challenge to myself to use up my new stuff meant that this Everyday Eclectic by Echo Park was a prime target for today's page.

It felt a bit strange to open up the pack and cut up a few of those sheets already but I know I need to do more of this if the bags and bags of stash I've given away over the last couple of weeks is anything to go by.

All that stuff that I'd loved when I first bought it that just didn't do it for me anymore is just too sad.

I think part of my problem is that I want to use up older stuff before I cut into my precious new stuff so I need to work more on the balance of this!

I'm not scrapping much at the moment and feel a little bit lost as far as design and stuff goes, so I'm not enthralled with my creation but it was a fun event to capture and the bright colour of the papers make me happy.

I'm totally not sure about those balloons and am not sure I'll be using the rest of that sheet. Bit too trendy for me but we will see how I get on - maybe I can find a way to incorporate them more meaningfully. Mmmmm. Will have to think.

So, all my stash is packed away now - well apart from some basics I've kept out to keep me going, so we will have to see how I get on! Bear with me. I'll be back to normal as soon as I can I hope!

Have a good week everyone and don't forget to share over at Flickr (here) with the tag WM#56.

Challenge #56 week of 10th September 2012

Well, this week I'm busy packing for our move and actually the packing is where this prompt has come from.

A few weeks ago, during our birthday celebration prompt week I went back and redid Pam's prompt to use older, less loved product on my page. It felt good even though there wasn't a lot of older product on there. And to be honest, I actually try to use up older product more often through my Counterfeit kits. Every month, I try to include some older product in the kit and so often, it's a use it or lose it feeling.

But at the other end of the spectrum, how good are you at using your new stuff?!? If you are anything like me, {and I'm really hoping you are}, you go out, buy new stuff and then leave it on the side to gaze at lovingly for a long time before it ever gets used up. Sometimes, that new stuff if most definitely old before you get to use it.

I can tell you that I'm really guilty of this. When I subscribed to kits, I'd leave them for months before thinking about attacking it. At one point I think I had more than 10 untouched kits piled up before I felt the need to start using them. But I remember not loving the product as much as when I'd first received the kits through the door! I go shopping and just don't dig right in when I get home because it's too new. I love to see it there but the longer it sits there, the less I feel like using it.

I bought all this stuff that I just "couldn't" resist about 8 weeks ago - and still it sits there! 

Packing up my room, there's a lot of old new stuff!

So my challenge to you this week is to grab something that is new for you - however new that is - and *gasp* cut it up and use it on a layout. :-)

I'm sitting here writing this up several weeks in advance as by this time, most of my stash will be packed away so I'm aiming to cut into my precious BasicGrey "What's Up" collection which I bought way back at the beginning of summer and have been stroking it ever since. You'll know if I manage this when you check out the blog entry next Sunday! 

We'd love to see your creations over in our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery {here} with the tag #WM56.

Have a great week everyone!

#55 inspired by summer 2012

Once again I'm keeping it easy this time around. Summer 2012 seems to have passed me by and I didn't think I'd done all that much. No holidays, no days out, no weekends away. But then Pam gently reminded my that there were several things I had shared with her that were good summer memories.

Of course she's right. I was just feeling sorry for myself!

Every summer since 2008, my baby brother Ted has come to visit or rather he's come to work and earn some summer money, but when he's not working, we have a lot of fun. He usually stays about four weeks and that can add up to a lot of photos.

This year was definitely our quietest yet but we still managed a company summer party, an art trip, a football match, several BBQs, more than a few beers outside on warm summer evenings, a few restaurant trips with and without girlfriend who came to stay a weekend, shopping, finally visiting a local attraction we've been trying to get to for the third summer in a row, the yearly fun fair event and plenty of cross-country rivalry while feeling emotionally British watching the Olympics! Not bad considering we were all working more than full-time Monday to Friday!

So that was the focus of my layout. And I'm still in the grid groove which is a design I always turn to when I have a lot of photos to feature. I limited myself to 18 small Instagram or Hipstamatic shots and went for a simple double page spread which I haven't done for ages.

I also turned to my CKC September kit, Packing and included some of my CHA summer counterfeited elements!

I want to thank Pam for not letting me wallow and for pointing out that I had a lot of fun with Ted. I always do! Over the last few years, his trips to visit have always been high points for me and I'm so glad I was nudged to get this year's down on paper :-)

Hope you join in this week! Don't forget to share {here} with the tag WM#55

#55 inspired by Summer 2012

Like you, I lead a busy life... well, most of the time. So I welcomed the simplicity of making just one layout this week and a quick one at that. Even better that it summarizes on one 12x12 canvas my entire summer. This is what I call overachieving.


The colorful papers on the bottom as well as the overall design were inspired by Glitter Girl {here}.  Although my layout uses 30 photos, I like that they were limited to the 4x12 area of my page, leaving me plenty of room to play and still have some white space. 

The title - easily my favorite part of this page, came together from my need to find matching alphas in one set of all the many sticker sheets I have. I couldn't find a matching set that had all the letters I needed, so I took two different sets of the same type and mixed them. Then I misted over them in a color matching my layout and what was left behind was a perfectly matching title. You can see a photo of my process in the gallery {here}.

another great thing about this page for me was that I was finally able to use up some forlorn chipboard stickers in my stash. I loved the colors in these but rarely use these types of themed products anymore. I decided they went with this page well, especially the quote, so I sanded them down and distressed them a bit  to match the page better.

the photos were printed using my home printer. I created 2 separate 4x6 collages using picasa and printed them on regular paper. I didn't have to do any complicated measuring or cropping to figure out how to fit 30 photos on my page. And the seam...? Well, look for yourself. It is invisible.

That is all from me this week.

I am now off to enjoy the last bit of summer around here at a lifeguard-less beach.

xo,
Pamage

... And we have a winner!

As mentioned once or twice before (wink) we were having a giveaway to celebrate our one year anniversary.

We asked you {here} to load your creations based on previous prompts to the flick'r group and tag it WM#52 for the chance to win a small prize.

We had some wonderful submissions from you.

Leslie was inspired by Heroes

Tara was inspired by living colorfully (among a few other layouts she posted!)

Connie was inspired by names

Michelle was inspired by maps

We wish we could send you all a prize for all your support and love over this past year, but unfortunately we could only choose one. The prize was chosen at random. It was a joint effort between Lisa and I. 

Lynette was inspired by Ice Cream. And she is our winner!!!

 Please send me a private message in flick'r with your address where we can send your goodies. We think you're going to like it.

Thanks again for playing along and here's to many more pages.

xo,

Pamage (and Lisa)

Challenge # 55 week of September 3, 2012

Today in the States we celebrate Labor Day. Traditionally, this marks the end of summer. It being my favorite season of the year, this makes me a little blue.

And nothing makes me less blue than reliving good memories and putting them on a scrapbook page.

Take this layout for example...

To me this is the perfect summary layout.

I know many of you have been quite busy this season with kids, grandkids, visitors, travels, etc. I am sure you have collected a decent number of photos. I want to challenge you, or really just help you, to create a summary layout of Summer 2012. You can go back and create as many different pages as you want to document this summer. Or you can finish that mini-book you wanted to create over the next few months when things slow down. But instead of overwhelming yourself with all the many photos not yet scrapped, create ONE layout that sums it all up and throw away the guilt.

Some helpful tips on how to accomplish this layout:

* use many of your favorite photos in a grid pattern under the title "best of Summer 2012"

* create a pie-chart like layout with a photo representing each of the activities you spent time doing - example {here}

* select one photo you feel completely embodies the essence of your summer and sum up the rest with journaling

* create a layout with no photos and a list of all the things you did or that made it great. You can alternatively use a post-card or other collected memorabilia instead of a photo

Most importantly, don't stress. You can always go back and really catch all the details of your summer later. But having this page in your albums will make you feel "caught up" and will remind you of all the happy times you enjoyed this summer. So indulge in the process and forget the rest!

If you join us in this adventure, please remember to post your layouts to our flick'r gallery with the tag WM#55.

xo,

Pamage

ps: we will be back shortly with our giveaway winner.

#54 Inspired by sewing

Well, you all should know by now that I LOVE sewing on my layouts. Most times I am too lazy to do it, but whenever I do I end up loving my pages.

So I save this technique for special pages.

This week I turned to Studio Calico's Design Team gallery for some inspiration. If you are not familiar with the work of {Kinsey Wilson} and {Sasha Farina}, I recommend you take a look. They take sewing to a whole other level. 

you love ice cream

for this layout, I used {this} layout from Kinsey as my inspiration. I drew the loops on cardstock from my discard pile and cut out the inside of the loops to make the template for my real patterned papers. Once I pieced all my papers together, I poked holes with my paper piercer and used some embroidery thread to outline the shapes.

I also used sewing on my title with some baker's twine...

and a little detail of blanket stitching

I added a few details in red once I chose my photos, to balance out the red that is peeking through in the photos.Overall this page took me longer to create than I usually take, but it is certainly worth it. It just makes me smile to look at it.

sew fast sew easy

i didn't use a sketch or an inspiration piece for this one. I just laid down some papers I really like.

 I stitched on my title and I added a few sewing related embellishments to reinforce the theme, such as the felt sticker from Amy Tangerine.

 I also added a clothes hanger clip from Amy Tangerine, a scrap of fabric, some buttons and the tape measure washi. It was a story I had been meaning to tell but hadn't found the time or photos. This challenge pushed me to get it done. 

Hope you had a chance to play this week.

xo,

Pamage

#54 Inspired by stitching

I love stitching on paper and bought a new sewing machine recently that has yet to spy a piece of fabric! And that from someone who used to design and make evening gowns and wedding dresses for a living!

But as soon as I started scrapping I knew I wanted to add stitching details though it took a long time for me to take the leap. I love sewing a few hand-stitches when I have time, or these days whipping out the machine and trying something new. Often, I just make it simple but every now and again I go to town and find it very therapeutic - the embroidery layout featured in the prompt post is just such a layout. I love the texture and dimension it adds to the page and the detail it adds always makes me happy - if it#s a line of running stitch or a sprinkle of french knots.

Pam uses stitches for borders, for words, for titles and I always love that look whenever I see it - adding that to my list to try out sometime.

If you've been wanting to have a go at sewing on your layouts - in a simple or more extravagant way, I recommend you checking out Pam's layouts in the Flickr gallery (here) or the Stitching on Paper free class I was talking about over at Obstinate Pursuit.

As for me this week, I was still feeling the grid groove from last week and decided to stitch a grid to fill with little bits and pieces.

With some light pencil lines to follow, this came together in no time, using my CKC August kit, Olympiad in the process.

I hope you've enjoyed stitching this week as much as I have. And don't forget to add your creation to our Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#54.

Have a great week everyone!