#300 - be inspired by the power of three

Well, look at me! I made my layout as soon as I'd finished writing up the blog post which is definitely something that rarely happens. But it's a special prompt and that deserves some special treatment.

It helps that I'm also playing along for a few days in the LOAD mini: Out of this World challenge (the mini challenge is just a week) and so I was fired up and inspired to get going straight away.

The LOAD prompt was to include white space or use space as the theme of the page so of course, I managed to do both!

It seemed a perfect combination to make a page about our Whimsical Musings bestie Pam, my trip to New York to see her, a LOAD prompt and a WM prompt all on one page.

I used my New York kit of supplies which was inspired by Pam herself and which features some products bought there (the gold leaves and the gold and green paper that is matting the photos) and all in all, I think this ticks all the boxes I wanted it to.

Of course, those of you who've been around some time will remember that it was a little challenge that Pam and I gave ourselves that gave birth to Whimsical Musings and over the years, we attended many LOADs together. I feel like she really is my scrapbooking twin.

Even though I was unable to reduce the photos to three, there are plenty of other threes to discover.

Three journaling cards, three little paper heart embellies, three stars at the bottom, visual triangles, three gold leaves, three dots of gold elements and three stamped phrases. And even though you can't see the third person on the photo, I can just about spot a certain young man (on the bridge waving!) who I had the pleasure of getting to know while I was there, and the three of us had such a fun weekend together. So, threes all over the place!

I'd especially love it if you shared this week! 

Help us celebrate this major milestone with a layout of your own. 

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 #204 - week of 14th March 2016

I've been sorting photos this evening, ready for some Design Team kit work. And I came across this photo...

which went on to feature on this layout.

This in turn reminded me of going there in person - both times I visited Pam.

And while I was there, Pam and I were talking about possible Whimsical Musings prompts and we realised that I hadn't yet featured that famous blue as a prompt.

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

To really overload this prompt with the world-famous blue - I'm sure they have it protected - here are just a few images.

I follow them on Facebook and back around Valentine's Day, they featured these images

And just this week, for International Women's Day, they posted this which seemed rather sweet.

And this advertising from last year's Valentine's Day was a paper crafter's dream with fluttering paper hearts and airplanes and whole scenes made from paper. Just beautiful. With that famous blue in every shot.

Now, you may or may not be as obsessed with Tiffany's as I am but there are several ways you could take this prompt. Yes, there's the shop itself! With the widespread blue that is found everywhere in one of the most famous shops of the world which you might want to feature. Or you might just love this particular shade of blue (or green as most men seem to see it). You could talk about a particular colour that you've given a specific name to (for example we have "Dad's teacup green" which my sister and I know exactly the green we mean!). You could talk about jewellery you wear with an associated colour - birthstone etc. And for those of you who are the proud owners of a piece of Tiffany magic, maybe the sight of that first blue bag given to you as a gift - it's always a gift, isn't it? - could be the feature of your page.

We'd love you to be inspired by 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#204 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 it up to the group with the tag WM#204 in the write up text so that we can find it.

#160 Inspired by a Fifth Avenue window display

This week, I asked you to be inspired by this beautiful window display that Pam brought to my attention while we were strolling along Fifth Avene!

I loved the rows of circular embroidery frames with all that beautiful bright colour blocked fabrics.

For my take, I decided to get my Cameo working and use one of the full 12x12 backgrounds I love so much but have yet to use! I have dozens and dozens of these files in my Silhouette library and love seeing them used online, but haven't got around to putting one to use myself. Seemed the ideal time to give it a go.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge March kit, Drift, layout #1

I used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge March kit, Drift, and selected some bright, contrasting colours which reminded me of the original, even if they don't really match the original. But I wanted to leave quite a few of the circles empty to create a white-on-white effect. Filling the spaces with my bright papers, I wanted to get a random effect across the page - random is really hard to do when you are thinking about it, but I'm still pleased with the result.

Once I'd filled the background die-cut with my filler papers, I then looked around for a suitable photo and topic, realising that the bottle of champagne would be ideal for all these floating bubbles!

I kept the rest of the layout very simple, backing the photo with a few layered papers and using a cork Polaroid frame I'd cut out with my Big Shot.

A few sequins and a sprinkle of cork dots continue the bubble theme and tie the photo mat into the background design.

The empty circles provided ideal spots for a little journalling and then my layout was done.

It's not my usual style but I'm happy to have tried out something new and to have found a way to interpret the original inspiration photo in a way that means something to me.

What will you do with all those circles this week? Or have you taken the prompt in another direction?

Don't forget to share over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#160 or any of the previous week's prompts (see the full list under the Whimsical Musings Past Prompts page tag at the top of the blog)

Challenge #160 week of 2nd March 2015

Welcome back this week and welcome to March. Time is flying along and I'm trying to get back on track after a somewhat chaotic month full of travels, new work and plenty of scrapping through LOAD.

But anyway, you're not here to read about all my chaos, I'm hoping you are really here for a little dollop of inspiration.

Of course, I'm still flying high after my time in the big city with our friend Pam and today's prompt comes direct to you from Fifth Avenue!

It was a very cold day but we'd been strolling up and down the avenue a few times when we both mentioned how eye-catching and inspirational this shop window was...

... and how perfect it would be for a Whimsical Musings prompt. On the second passing, I decided it was time to snap a quick piccie to share with you sometime down the line. This is that time :-)

You can also consider this a Pam prompt as I probably wouldn't have actually captured the wonderful design if I hadn't been inspired by her vision all day! I'd seen it but she was the one who mentioned it and made us stop to take a look! She's fabulous like that. So attentive, so inspirational.

So, be inspired by the colours, the circles, the patterns within the rings, the fur-pieced jacket, the light and dark, or just being on Fifth Avenue!

I think there's plenty of scope for us all, and who knows, maybe I can lure Pam out to play sometime soon!

So, take a stroll with me along that famous street and let's get creative.

We love it when you share your creations with us over at theWhimsical Musings Flickr gallery along with the tag WM#160.

(PS. did anyone notice that we missed out prompt #156? I just realised that we jumped from #155 to #157 - my brain must have been asleep that day!)