#53 Inspired by Grids

Another week is over. Does it seem to anyone else like this year is picking up it's pace? Time seems to be flying.

Anyway, I have two layouts to share with you, so I will get right to it.

Being that this blog is meant to bring you scrapbooking challenges with a twist, I tried to look for ways to change up the typical grid of 3x3 square photos. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that grid, in fact it is my fall-back option when I have a lot of photos. But with this challenge I wanted to show you how you can spice it up to make it interesting.

This first layout was completely lifted from this album cover {here}. Even the colors were inspired by it. I am a music lover so often I find inspiration in album covers and I have been keeping my eyes out for grids all week, so I was delighted when this popped up on my Pandora.

I was brave on this layout in that I used really old stickers left in my stash from the days I used to use themed product. Admittedly, the thought of theme product now makes me cringe, so I tried to find ways to use these stickers in a natural way to my current style and I think I pulled it off. I didn't use all the stickers on the sheet, but by adding small elements here and there I reinforced the story being told here.

This next layout is all about the ribbons. Aside from a few punched butterflies, this layout uses no patterned-paper whatsoever! I finally found a way to make a dent in my ribbon collection.

Again, I wanted to find a way to "twist" the concept of a grid... and that's exactly what I did here. I tilted the grid. I did this before even having pictures to scrapbook, so I didn't know how I was going to finish it off. I thought about tucking in the photos behind the ribbons, like those tufted fabric boards they sell for room decor, but in the end I found this printed instagram photo that perfectly fit into four of the squares. I added the smaller pictures from the photo strip because I wanted to tell a more general story and not just talk about the one photo.

How did you use this concept of grids?

xo,
Pamage

#19 Another layout created with scraps

Well, folks. This has been a quieter week which is a welcome change. I still have family (and kiddies) around, so my scrapping time is limited, but I could not take another second of my desk in disarray, so I buckled down and set out to clear it.

If you remember from my post earlier last week, this is what my desk looked like once I was done with my challenge layout.

 the b-side to the colorful scenic route paper is that yellow with orange dots pattern. I used that and several punches to create the sun below and this layout came together in 15 minutes, including drying time for the watercolors used. That's what I call productive.

The nieces and nephews pictured above are the same ones in town today. I have been thinking a lot about how much they have grown since the last time I saw them, so I just needed to do a layout with all of them together like this.

Hope you will be joining us next week as Lisa kicks off another fun challenge for us on Monday and we embark on what could potentially be a 52-challenge year. Oh, how exciting!

xo,
Pamage

#19 Inspired by Scraps

At last! Here I am posting my layout for Pam's challenge #19.

It's taken my some time to get back to my table and apart from a Christmas card I created last night (if you can believe it), this is the first creating I've done for almost two weeks. I'd almost forgotten how to do it!

I posted this photo yesterday showing you how my table looked after creating my WM#18 layout and explained to you that this in unusual. Yes, I make total chaos while I am making a single page and usually end up with about 3 square inches of free space at the end of it, but my table doesn't stay like this for long.

Right away the next morning, I cleared my table to look like this. 

But I kept all those scraps in one place so that I could quickly and easily create this page. And Pam was so right. This came together in minutes! I mean it took me ages to get it finished (we are talking the slowest scrapper in the universe after all) but just grabbing those scraps and making it work made very light work of the process and was so much fun. 

I went light, bright and girlie. I'm enjoying the bright colours and even coloured cardstock right now. I'm not sure if it will last but sunshine yellow, tangerine, raspberry pink and green seems like a perfect combination right now!

I decided on the design and actually stitched the banner down (can't have a layout without a banner at the moment!) before I even thought about a photo. And this was the first girlie photo that I put my hands on. No story behind it so it was perfect just for a few words to our little headstrong niece! Some of the embellies were out of the same Christmas kit box and then I threw in a sprinkling of other items that were near to hand just to keep it bright and colourful. 

It may not be my usual style but it was a lot of fun and I'm hoping that this is a good start back to creating now that the crazy days are over :-)

And my table now?

5 minutes ago it looked like this:

And now, I'm happy to say it looks like this again:

Ah, that clear table feeling! If it wasn't so late, I'd be dragging everything out again right away to get creating! But it is late, and I'm full of another cold :-( so I'm off to have a steaming hot bath.

As promised, I'll be setting the new challenge (#20) to go live on Monday morning (2nd) so in the meantime, I wish you a wonderful few days from now until your New Year celebrations.

Happy 2012! And here's to a creative start to the new year.

Lisa

xxx

Challenge #19 Week of 19th of December 2011

Another busy week down and one closer to that special time. By this next next Sunday, Christmas will be essentially over. How fast time flies! 


Mostly this week I want you to concentrate on spending time with those you love. I want you to take deep breaths and remind yourself when things get hectic, what the purpose of this Holiday is for you. Whether the meaning be religious or not, I am sure it is about much more than presents, cooking and trying to please everyone. So, don't stress out too much. Be kind to others as you come across shoppers and attendants. Smile and greet others with warm wishes.


That is your true challenge for this week. But lest we forget what this blog is all about, I do have a scrap-related challenge as well -- and it truly is scrap related.


If you are anything like me, your area is probably overflowing with half-finished projects you're are vowing to get done in time for the opening of the presents. And you probably are wondering how you will ever uncover your desk from this mess. Well, I want to challenge you to use those scraps and things found on your desk to create a layout. I'm serious! I don't want a piece of patterned paper bigger than 3"x3". {in the event your desk is tidy and clean right now - I want you to write me an extensive email telling me how you do it}. 


You know I love scraps - and you might think I am cheating, but often that is how I clean up my mess. I take all those random little bits and instead of putting them away or finding a place for them, I just use them up. So go ahead and use those bits of paper, the rest of that sticker sheet, those unused buttons you brought out and the ribbon you didn't use on your December Daily.


Here is a link I found with some ideas to get you started on what to do with those scraps {65 ways to use your scraps by Sweetly Scrapped}. 


And I leave you with a sampling of my own use of scraps.

Wishing for warmer weather right about now...

use scraps to create your own patterned paper background

So, if you decide not to take the week off, play along with the first photos you find and all those bits left on your desk. It will be fun. I can't wait to see what turns out {don't forget to upload and tag WM#19}. And I am giddy with the excitement that I will get to clear parts of my desk as I work on my challenge this week. {I'll be photographing and uploading my desk as it stands for your viewing horror}. 


xo,
Pamage

#17 Inspired by photos we love

I'm happy to have found time to tell my story today.

This week Pam challenged us to scrapbook just for fun, grab a photo we love and just go for it. No pressure, no specific reason, just because.

Well, I love this sort of creating! I have so many totally random photos that when I flipped through just one pile I had, I sorted out around 10 that could easily have fit the prompt. So I went through them all one more time and this photo of the two of us kissing won through. There's no story, it's unrelated to what else was going on that day (it was my autumnal colours walk) and was certainly an imperfectly composed photo with the shadows rather unflattering and way to the right of the photo. But I love it as I know we are kissing and the long autumn shadows are indicative of the time of year.

And then I was totally delighted to notice that between our heads a heart has been created that I hadn't noticed before. It might be a bit wonky and difficult to see, but it's there and that sort of coincidence is just too good an opportunity to pass up ;-)

I went to my scrap inspiration Pinterest board to find some new inspiration as I've been having fun recently trying on some different scrap "hats" and this design by the amazingly talented Tara Anderson over at Crate Paper got my brain working (here). I loved the overall design, the single photo, all those layers and the loopy threads which is something I'm seeing a lot of recently and have been trying out for myself.

I used some recently purchased BG Sweet Threads and made it pretty colourful. I even did a bit of paint splattering which is also a new design idea for me - I liked it! And it doesn't make the page warp like some of the mists do.

Thanks Pam for permission to just play with paper today. I really enjoyed it as I've been doing a lot of stuff for a "reason" recently and this was a welcome change.

Don't forget to link up over at Flickr with the tag WM#17 and watch this space for the new challenge which should go up tomorrow morning.

I'm off to the Christmas Market now for a Glühwein ;-)

#17 inspired by Photos we Love

Hello, Friends! Another week has past us by and here I am again happy to report another layout completed. Earlier this week I challenged us all to make a layout "just because" and focus on the picture.

It didn't take me long into looking through my pile to find the perfect picture for this project. I printed the picture 9 x 12. When I am selecting pictures to print I usually don't have a specific layout in mind. I just go with what feels right for the picture. They are usually all 3 x 3, so having such a big picture in the pile instantly drew me to it.

As I sat with it to create, and in trying to come up with a title, I asked myself, exactly why did you print this so huge? And Ta-da! The title was born and the page came together hitch-free.

 I set up the main elements (photo + leaves + title) at 2am one morning in about 15 minutes ... but it didn't feel done. So I let it sit there a few days to allow me to mull over what it needed. The next day I added buttons, another 5 minutes and still it didn't feel done. The next day, my new Studio Calico came in with the wonderful Amy Tangerine border stickers (the leaves) and the tiny type words (the strips of words). Those two elements added that little something the page was missing (in my opinion) and I knew I'd be proud to share my page with you.

This long-winded story just goes to show that when you are not quite done with a page, don't rush the process. Don't hurriedly try to fix it as you may end up "ruining it". Instead, let it rest, simmer. Come back to it at a later time and it might just speak to you. (and now I sound completely bonkers).

Hope you had a great December week. I cannot wait to see Lisa's take on this challenge, although I know she has limited time to play today. It'll be fabulous regardless. If you played along, I can't wait to see your creations in our flick'r gallery later. Remember to tag them WM#17.

Bye for now,
Pamage

Challenge #17 Week of 5th of December 2011

Hello again friends. I have had a very fun week celebrating my Birthday with my best friend as Lisa mentioned. Now, I know you all think I'm spoiled to be getting a whole week off to party. But trust me, my birthday has never been this big of a deal. I just got lucky this year.

Anyway, because I have loads to catch up on and because I know some of you are participating in December Daily/ preparing for the Holidays / making handmade gifts, etc... I will keep the challenge simple this week.

Here is my little example -

the entire purpose of this page? To use those photos. Why? because I love them. The journaling/title/page isn't about the date, time and place. It doesn't tell a story about this day or why we took those pictures. It is a 'just because' page, and I am ok with that. Now, I know some of you may be cringing. How can I take time off to just play when I have so many important moments to document? Simple, I just do. If you are making 5 or 20 or 100 layouts a year, I am sure you are getting those details in there somewhere.

But often we have this picture (or pictures) that keep getting pushed to the end of the pile simply because we don't have a story. Your challenge this week is to take that picture and make a page. Allow yourself to play and have some stress-free fun.

Make a page using a photo or photos which you love - Just Because. 


For journaling or a title try to come up with a quote, saying, lyrics, leave them out altogether or go with "just because". Keep it simple. This is about that picture you love. Trust me, it will feel good.

As always, Lisa and I will post our fun pages by next Sunday. If you decide to play along, please add it to our flick'r gallery so we can all be inspired by you and tag it as WM#17.

Until next time {oh and Be Awesome Today}.

xo,
Pamage