#306 - be inspired by strip journalling

When is the last time that I managed to make a Whimsical Musings prompt right there in the week that I posted it? It feels like a long time. But this week, I managed the seemingly impossible :-)

I promise you that the prompt came first and then this Simple Scrapper Creative Team assignment followed and not the other way around. But does it really matter anyway? I've made a page that I love and that's all that matters at the end of the creative day.

This layout was created using a sketch and a Story Starter ® from the Simple Scrapper premium membership. I loved this sketch (from September 2017) when it first appeared and knew that I wanted to use it so I was particularly happy to realise that I could make it work this month. The fact that it had journalling strips was the icing on the cake to fulfil this Whimsical Musings prompt WM#306 - be inspired by strip journalling.

The Story Starter ® was all about gifts and I knew this was a chance for me to capture my love of matching, over the top, frilly packaging!

I went with my standard form of journalling in this way. I wrote up my story on a 6x4 template, printed it out at 1.15 spacing in American Type font and then cut it up into strips and trimmed the ends so that most of the strips are different lengths. And then I adhered them loosely so that there is some dimension. Perfect!

I also added some texture to this simple sketch by stitching round the edge of the page and also along the bottom edge of each cloud, leaving the threads messy.

Last of all, I picked out some enamel dots, veneer elements and some glittery elements to sprinkle across the page in colours that sum up all that is fun about my packaging and Easter itself!

*sigh* I love my Silhouette when I take the trouble to get it out and use it! And I think I love my sewing machine even more :-)

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 #306 - week of 8th October 2018

I've been busy creating today and will have some shares during the week so watch this space. But I used a technique that I like a lot but I'm often too lazy to actually remember to do. And this gave me the idea for today's prompt.

I'd like you to be inspired by strip journalling.

You know, where you write or print your journalling on strips of paper and then glue them directly onto your journalling area. If I'm going to write, I usually just write directly onto the layout but sometimes, I want the story on a paper or cardstock to stand out a little more and that's when I go to the effort of printing my words and then cutting it all up in order to stick it back down again!

You can use patterned paper such as the second layout here or plain cardstock which tends to be my go to. You can make it even or staggered, whole lines of text, just one sentence at a time or even a single word. You can write, print or use a typewriter. You can put the strips close together or far apart such as in the last picture. You can make it tone on tone - first photo - or a strong contrast. However you use it, give it a try this week.

I think you know how important I think story is on my layouts and I love finding different ways to incorporate it into the design so I hope you'll find a way to take this inspiration for yourself this week.

And if you are inspired, I hope 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. 

#82 Inspired by hidden journallling

I've been busy preparing hand made embellies for four layouts for a magazine commission which meant that I was running low on time for my WM challenge today. Yes, I leave everything to the last minute! I always have the best intentions. So I was glad when the following process came together more quickly thank usual.

I went around my creating a little differently this time around as I wanted to find a subject that would call for hidden journalling. And once I had that, I looked for some photos. As they were boy based, my February Counterfeit Kit, Urban, was perfect and it didn't take long for me to sort out a collection of products to use. The next challenge for me was to come up with a way to hide my journalling in way I haven't tried before. That was fun.

The layout itself, once the selection and ideas were ready, didn't take long at all. I kept it simple and am happy with the way it turned out. And the fun thing is, no one will ever really notice where the journalling is unless they really look for it.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge February kit, Urban layout #6

 

Did you notice? My title block is actually a spinner and the journalling is tucked on the part you can't see. He he!

So to recap, my process today was subject, story, photos, kit, create. Very different from my usual jumping around and just making it work. Sometimes it's fun to shake things up and head at things from a different angle. You should try something different and let us know how it worked for you.

What did you do to keep your journalling out of view this week?

Don't forget to share over at our Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#82

#82 Inspired by hidden journaling

This prompt couldn't have come at a better time for me...

I have been going through so many changes and emotions and moves that I needed to get it all down on paper. The problem here is that when thoughts and feelings are so fresh I don't like to expose them to the world. Further, some of these thoughts were super private.

And so, hidden journaling gave me the opportunity to express myself freely. Here is what I ended up with.

The secret life of a Unicorn

this layout dealt with my feelings at work and about my job. 

I used one of the speech bubbles on the paper to house my title using the small BG letters which were a good match to the color of the bottom pp.

For my secret journaling I stapled three large tags together and ran some washi tape to hold them together. 

i added a piece of patterned paper to the bottom of the tags to write my journaling.

Love 

the theme here is simple and obvious. There isn't really a title even. Just some stamped words, a sentiment sticker, my photos and my hidden journaling. I decided to embellish with some stitching. 

did you find creative ways to hide your journaling? I hope you will share with us. Thanks again Lisa for inspiring me.

xo,

Pamage

Challenge #82 week of 18th March 2013

Welcome to your new home Pam! We all hope you will be very happy with your new cosmopolitan lifestyle!

I've had some sneak peeks of her new home and it's lovely.

And off we are on another week's creative adventure.

I hope you know that I try to always have a bit of a story on my pages. Sometimes it's out in the open but sometimes, it's a bit more tucked out of the way. Sometimes only I know it's there. It's my little secret.

So that is my prompt this week. Go hide your journalling! Maybe you'll go the regular way - pockets, tucked behind the photo, slipped under the papers, slapped on the back of the page. Or you might get a bit more crafty (in both meanings of the word) and find a new way to hide it but it's still there. A little translucent pocket perhaps, a flap under the photo, a letter in an envelope, even coded (too much hard work for me but I know there's a few of you out there who might go the extra mile!)

Here are a few of our recent pages which could qualify for this prompt for a bit more inspiration:

A vellum pocket shows you that there is journalling to read but the confetti also in the pocket gives the words some protection

The brown paper bag covers up the journalling strip completely but the stitched tab gives an enticing peek of what might be inside

Partly visible, partly hidden behind the photo, the tab gives a clear instruction

My closed up doily envelope really keeps these words under lock and key 

I'm going to ask Pam to connect up one or two of her pages here too. :-) I'm sure she will wow us with her creative hiding skills!

So, get going and cover up those words. Don't forget to share over at Flickr with the tag WM#82. Can't wait to see what you make.

#61 Inspired by Adjectives

pages like these are so fun for me to make. I could make one for each of my friends and family members...

but I chose to make my subject someone that doesn't ge featured a lot in my scapbooks - my little cousin Francisco.

As the middle child, he hardly gets any attention and therefore has developed a knack for causing trouble. But it is that same knack that lends itself to his very defined personality.


I chose a favorite sketch from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership and went to town with my alphas.  

I tried to choose colors that would make the colors on the layout pop. The touches of red were subtle but the choice of the two red alphas bring out this color on the page. I also chose to showcase these traits by making them red as they stand out more.

I kept my clusted on the top simple, but tried to incorporate all the colors on the layout for continuity. 

I didn't have a tag that matched, so i traced an existing tag unto the grey dot paper and cut it out.

How did you fare with your list of adjectives?

Until next week,
Pamage

Challenge # 61 Week of October 15, 2012

Ahoy!

Don't worry. It's not pirate week! 

I just thought it'd be nice, wonderful, fabulous, entertaining, cute and funny to introduce this post that way.

I am feeling sassy, daring & bold this week, so I thought you wouldn't mind if I acted a little quirky & nutty.

And if by now you haven't caught on that something is up then you might be a little helpless, uptight or confused.

Have you guessed what your challenge is?

Adjectives!

I think layouts like this one say so much.

Your challenge this week is to use one, a few or a whole lot of adjectives to describe a person, place or thing in your life! 

I sincerely hope you don't think this challenge is lame, dull, crazy or boring and that your are excited, enthusiastic and thrilled to embark on this journey of words with us and create something whimsical. Here's a little help to get you started: List of Adjectives.

Dare to be brave this week and remember to post your creation on our gallery so we can be jealous, proud and happy.

have a FANTASTIC week.

xo,

Pamage

#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

#41 - Inspired by Superheroes

Hello my beautiful ladies. This post was scheduled ahead of time, because I am glad to report I finally had a weekend away. I am probably eating some Maple Candy in Boston.

Anyway, let's get to the juicy part of this post - my layouts. I couldn't decide if I should go the serious or silly route so once again I created two layouts interpreting this challenge.

super pam

yes, believe it or not, that superhero is me. It was a few days before Halloween 2010 and I realized I didn't have a costume for the festivities, so I quickly pulled together this ensemble from my personal wardrobe (who else owns black leather pants but me?!?) only adding the wig, cape, mask and belt buckle. My favorite part of the story were the details in the "highlight" section. I didn't take a single worthy picture of my get up all night, but I was able to make the most of this bad iphone selfie by covering the clutter with patterned paper and washi tape, leaving just my crazy costume as the front and center part of this page. I chose bold prints and colors to emphasize the superhero feel (and let's face it, because they make me happy). Because there wasn't much story and the photo wasn't showcase worthy I took a cue from Lisa's book and made it 6x12. Overall, I am thrilled I made this page and told this funny story of how I had a wedding reception to attend before the party and so I wore this under my dress and at the end of the party changed quickly in a bathroom and exited in costume. I felt like a total super hero.

[hero]

when i sat down and thought above who the brave and courageous are in my life, my brother immediately popped into my mind. The picture doesn't really portray him as such, but I just picked one from the file and went with it. I like that he looks ordinary in it because it fits the quote I found so well. I kept the journaling, which was very personal, hidden. But i wanted to give readers a clue of the reason for the page, so I stamped the quote (which was very time consuming) and added a short line of journaling up one of the sides.

I also was inspired by the colors in the photo, so I pulled papers and products that matched those colors and I love the results.

I hope you all had a fun time creating if you played along with us this week and I look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery (tag WM#41). Lisa will be back tomorrow with another great challenge to get us started in June. 

Until next week,

xo

Pamage

#38 challenged by Mondays

Ok, so confession time.

Mondays make me feel like this  {click here for image source}-

 

Always have, since I was in school. 

Originally, that was the story I wanted to document... but as I thought more about it, I couldn't think of pictures to express that... so I sat on it.

Then it occurred to me that my current circumstances don't lend themselves to that feeling. And so the final result was inspired by the title and end scene of the movie "10 things I hate about you"

... in case you've never watched it, here is the link {10 things I hate about you end scene}

And here's my page -

design wise I kept it really simple. Didn't really need any pictures to tell my story. Just focused on the journaling, and in case it is hard to read, the list goes like this: 1.       Ends the “weekend” – for everybody else, 2.       Everything seems closed - favorite restaurants, hair salons…, 3.       Everyone is back at work and can’t hang out, 4.       I’m done with school, so no real reason to go into the city, 5.       It’s theaters day-off, so no plays, 6.       Commuters create traffic and busy streets, 7.       Most errands happen on this day, 8.       Usually no coffee although I don’t get to sleep in,  9.       Most office holidays happen on this day, 10.   But the truth is, I don’t hate this day, not even a little bit, not even at all. It is my third day off!

Thanks for playing along for another week. Can't wait to see what you all come up with in our flick'r gallery. Please remember to tag your layouts correctly as WM#38 for this challenge.

Oh, and ps: Happy Monday!

xo,

Pamage

Challenge #25 week of 6 February, 2012

Hello again! So a little late is better than never. Real life has once again gotten in the way of Whimsical Musings. {and that is ok}. In all honesty, I really love that about our blog. Lisa and I are both a testament to how scrapbooking really can play an important part in your life if you make time for it.
True, neither of us have small children {heaven bless those of you who do and still find the time}, but we each have busy, busy lives, families, jobs, hobbies, etc. The list of excuses is endless.

But we still make time.

I love that! Sure, sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming, but it is such a relief and delight when a page is completed. We hope that is why you are playing along too. So this week I have a story prompt that was inspired by the fact that I am posting this prompt late!

I thought to myself - "Man, I spend too much time at work". And it's true.

 This little cubicle is where I spend most of my week. Not my bed, as I would love. Not in the family room sharing with my family. Not even my creative space where I create layouts for this blog.

And that's a story I've never told.

If you created a layout based on the story "I spend most of my time ______". What would you fill that blank with? How would your tone sound? Would you sound happy that you spend most of your day at home with your toddlers? Would you sound a little bitter that you spend most of the week doing laundry? Would you sound frustrated at all the hours you spend on the treadmill? Would you romanticize about all the cuddly time you spend with your significant other?

Challenge: Take the line "I spend most of my time _____" and make it yours. Tell the story about a time, present or past, where one activity took up all of your time. 



I know I have several ideas floating around - (in fact I am working on a layout about work right now). Consider a compare and contrast between what you used to do and what you do now. Or a pie chart representing the breakup of your day. The possibilities are endless. I hope you are inspired to create and play along.


You will be glad you told this story. Be honest with yourself and examine your life. Write down those feelings. Don't feel bad thinking someone else will read your journaling and judge you. You are/were already spending all of your time doing XYZ. Why not scrap about it? (As a side note, I am little jealous of any of you that gets to make a page that says you spend most of your time scrapbooking).

Can't wait to see where this prompt takes you. We will be back sometime this week with our layout. Remember to peruse our flick'r gallery for additional inspiration.

Sorry again about the delay. I spend most of my time at work.

xo,
pamage

ps: thank you for understanding and supporting us. we appreciate every single one of our readers!

#24 Inspired by handwritten letters

In this age of sms, email and Facebook, I might be considered a little old-fashioned because I love to write real letters. I'm not saying it isn't hard - we don't write much these days, do we? My hand starts to ache and my handwriting leaves a lot to be desired but the hand-written word has always been important to me.

I had various penpals when I was younger, I always sent (and still send) out Thank You letters after birthdays, Christmas or visits, I always write postcards when I travel and have several thousand from over the years, I had a romantic letter-based relationship with my first boyfriend when he moved back to France, I've always tried to keep in touch with people via letter and I still have every single letter I received during my 15 months in France 86-87 and also during my 15 months in the Philippines 97-98 (although by that time, email was really beginning to kill off letters). I have letters from over the years from all parts of my life and probably could find them in every single corner of my home and memory boxes. Several spring to mind when I think about meaningful letters.

But I've been going through some old boxes of photos because of LOAD and also some memorabilia that my mum gave to me from when I was tiny and I came across the sweetest little letter and decided that it would be the one.

Not a lot has changed since I wrote this note. It's funny to think that this is another side of me that remains the same :-) Guess that's why Germany suits me so much!

I have no idea when I wrote the note but judging by the handwriting it must have been my first or second year of school. I don't have many photos of me from that time so the one I used is a little earlier - the summer before I started school. But near enough.

Testing out Pam's guide to taking photos at night - still not brilliant but maybe better than usual. The journalling doesn't show up at all however.  Can you read the note?

Ah, loopy twine!

I hope you had fun finding letters to include on your layout or perhaps writing a letter to someone as part of your journalling - it's such a personal touch. Don't forget to upload your layouts to Flickr with the tag WM#24 - we love to see how you interpret the prompts!

Pam will be here in the morning for another prompt and I love the anticipation of waiting to see what she is challenging us with. I always have a little time in Starbucks before work on a Monday morning and it's such a thrill to check into the blog to see what she's thought up for me and you.

It makes Monday mornings so much nicer, don't you agree? ;-)

#24 inspired by handwritten letters

I absolutely adore this prompt. I have so many handwritten letters. I have been lucky enough to receive and wise enough to keep so many little notes and messages over the years. I seldom scrap these.

Early on in the week I created a layout which some of you have already seen in the gallery.

The photo section acts as a big pocket where I included a selection of letters. Although you can see the two different handwriting peeping out, I wanted to do this prompt justice by creating a layout featuring another's handwriting. 

So last night as I was laying in bed, the idea for this layout came to me. I jumped out of bed to search for the letter I had in mind before the inspiration passed. 

Because scrapbooking my father is a difficult subject for me (we have a complicated relationship), I spent the better part of today creating this layout. In fact, I would take breaks in between. I kept getting stuck.

The highlight of making this page however, was that the mailman showed up in the middle of the process and  - I had an envelope from Germany! Yes, our sweet Lisa sent me a cute little card. I adore it.

  I love the little butterflies so much, that I adhered them straight unto what I was working. 

 I find that whenever I scrap a difficult topic the artiness of it all goes on overdrive. So I ended up with something like this.

But in the end I really disliked the results. In all my artiness I had lost my design focus and I felt the page couldn't breathe. So I went back to the drawing board and created some breathing room.

The final results feel more like me. I am happy to have included the original envelope (12 years old), the line of journaling (yes, that was all he wrote on the 8.5x11 sheet he mailed) and Lisa's sweet butterflies. Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!

If you used handwritten letters in your pages this week we would love to see it, just remember to upload it with the tage WM#26. I am loving all the action our little gallery is getting lately with folks re-visiting older prompts. I'll be back Monday with our new challenge. Can't wait to see what Lisa creates!

xo,

Pamage

Challenge #24 week of 30th January 2012

Some weeks ago, Pam shared her birthday list which she uses as a list of goals for the next 12 months.

I adored the idea and got around to completing my list earlier this month. It's such a great concept for me as I don't do resolutions any more but often come up with a few overriding goals for the year ahead. The birthday list gives me a bit of that with some bigger aims (such as decluttering my flat room by room) but also the chance to record some smaller ideas of things to do that might get forgotten in the stress and struggle of everyday life (such as to have a picnic).

One of the items on the list is to write hand-written letters throughout the year. I'm a bit old-fashioned like that and love to sit down write a real letter from time to time. Yes, it hurts the hand after a while but nothing beats an envelope hitting the mailbox with a handwritten address that you just know isn't a boring bill or advertising but rather real person to person communication. I love it and if I love it, then others must too, mustn't they?

Anyway, the topic of handwriting, or the decline in the practice of writing with a pen rather than a keyboard is something I've been thinking about a lot recently and I even came across a really interesting article about it (ironically, online!) in the Economist's Intelligent Life that you can see here.

And on Monday last week, I was reminded by Pam that it was National Handwriting Day.

Sometimes everything seems to be connected.

So we have a theme! :-) We have handwriting and we have letters. Can you see where I'm going with this?

This week's prompt for you is to include a handwritten letter as your journalling on your project.

We'd love to see your creations over in our Flickr gallery with the tag WM#24!

#21 inspired by completing a story

A crazy week at work left me with little time [and desire] to play. I kept postponing going through old layouts, though that is one of my favorite activities.

However, today while I was jazzing up my blog, [daily pamage], I found this entry [the story behind a layout]. I knew then and there that I wanted my actual journal entry in a layout. I loved re-reading my aha moment. Then I remembered this challenge and thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a companion page.

Because the supplies were all digital I was able to use the same patterns/papers to complete the companion page. However, I took a different design approach and I added my beloved buttons.

Here is a look at my challenge page (and also my third all-digi page!)

Try hard as I might, I am not as comfortable with the digital stuff, so the style departs a little bit from what I am used to. I guess I could have created a paper layout and just used some of the colors on the original page to tie it all in, but since I was already using the typed journaling straight from my blog entry I figured this would be easier. I am sending both pages to a photo developing lab right now. These are two stories I need to have in my albums.

I hope you were able to complete a story. If you did, we would love to see it so remember to tag it WM#21. We miss having you gals play along. I can't wait to see how Lisa took on this challenge. Remember to come back on Monday for a spanking-new challenge.

Oh and I would love feedback on the changes I made to my blog, so pay me a visit and let me know what you think - Daily Pamage.

xo,
Pamage

Challenge #21 Week of 9th January, 2012

Hello again. Your stories are important. I don't get tired of saying it. For that reason I love journaling. The more heartfelt the better. But sometimes we get caught up in the moment of trying out new techniques or playing along in a challenge to use three colors or four photos or five patterned papers -- and we forget to tell the story.

Have no fear. There is still time! You can always go back and complete a story. That is your challenge for this week. I want you to spend a few minutes with old pages (or not so old) and read what you wrote. Now, don't go crazy with this. Just flip until you find a page where you think something is missing. Did you tell the full story? Is it  really complete? Is there something you know now that you didn't then? What else would you like to add now?


With that page and story in mind you can do a few things:


- make a companion page. By using some of the same colors or patterns you can make a single page into a double page spread. Even if you don't have the same papers or embellishments by repeating a theme and style
you can create a cohesive page.


- make a whole new layout. You can use the same photos (yes, the same ones) or others from this event/date/place to add some details to your story. Even if these pages will sit in different albums or places inside an album your overall story will be more complete.


- Add a page of just journaling. As you can see by in my layout last week adding a different sized page of just journaling is a good way to tell a story without altering the design of a Page. Even if you don't have
different sized page protectors you can learn how to make your own using a sewing machine [here]. 


I hope this helps you get started in rethinking how to complete some of these stories before we forget them for good. I have one last request - please don't alter your original in any way! It may seem harder to do but the purpose of this challenge isn't to make you doubt the choices you made back then. I want to inspire you to complete the story!


If you do complete a layout this week please add it to our Flickr group with the tag WM#21. Have a great week.


xo,
Pamage