#37 Inspired by questionnaires

I spent all week thinking about Pam's prompt this week coming back to what she said about reaching out across the miles to someone. But somehow, it just didn't happen. I had a dozen and one things on my list and just got overwhelmed and behind on everything. Which is a shame. I thought it might have been fun to question my mum or even my brothers and sisters.

Never mind, adding it to the list!

But then inspiration hit yesterday when I was thinking about the day out we'd had last weekend up at the German North Sea coast. It was wild! I loved it. It was exactly what I'd hoped for. It's a long long time since I was last at the seaside and had added it to my "list". I was thrilled to get there at last.

And then I matched up that wonderful feeling I could still feel with a list of word prompts that I'd seen online and a version of which I tracked down on Pinterest (here).

Then it was clear that I was going to use the very imperfect iPhone photo selfie I'd taken on the beach. The LOAD sketch was simple and just what I needed to lay out the elements I wanted to include and then I finished off this double duty challenge by using my March Counterfeit kit, Soothe. The muted colours were perfect for the mood I wanted to convey.

So, once again, I end the week with more ideas for future layouts, but that's part of the fun of these challenges - my list is getting pretty long :-)

Looking forward to seeing what create for this prompt and to picking up some question ideas to add to that inspiration list!

#37 Inspired by Questionnaires

Hello all once again.

I have been a busy bee creating, probably to make up for all those consecutive days of not sitting at my work table.

I have another layout for you, and hopefully you like this one, because I do.

I searched the web for a questionnaire I liked and couldn't find one, so I made my own. I then posed the same questions to every member of my house and took an instant picture of them. I had my sister return the favor for the picture and answered my own questions.

The layout came together quickly after that. All in all, from the time I wrote up the questions, this took me 1.5 hours. And the best part is that I have an accurate picture of a little slice of our life. I love that.

As far as techniques go, I kept it all really simple. The only new thing I tried was with selectively punching out parts of the edge of the paper with my border punch. I saw that used somewhere and thought it looked really cool.

Hopefully this inspires you to do the same. Just ask your family simple questions and see how much your answers compare and contrast.

xo,
Pamage

Challenge #37 week of April 30th, 2012

So it feels like I am two days late and a dollar short. 

But that is no reason to stop creating. Although I am posting this challenge late, I hope you will join us this week on another Whimsical Musings Challenge. 

I know for a lot of you, LOAD began today... Sadly, this is the first time since I started in February 

2011 that I will not be participating in a Layout a Day challenge. However, I still really enjoy our pace and challenges.

This week I will keep it simple. The challenge is to be inspired by questionnaires. 

You can choose to interview a subject or yourself. 

And here's a list of ten questions James Lipton asks his guests on Inside The Actor's Studio to get you started:

1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on?
4. What turns you off?
5. What sound or noise do you love?
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
7. What is your favorite curse word?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

You can fashion your page responding to the full questionnaire or pose it to someone you love. This is an easy way to scrap someone that lives far away or a relative you hardly speak to. Reach out to someone this week and ask them these questions and keep it simple. Or if you fancy, you can focus in on one question and journal about the why of your answer. 

I apologize for the delay in posting. I cherish all our subscribers and am grateful each day that I met you lovely ladies and that you choose to play along with us week after week.

Cheers.

xo,

Pamage

# 9 Inspired by the voice of others

As soon as I read Pam's prompt for this week's challenge to use a different voice on our pages this week, I had my layout in mind.

Some months ago, prompted by something I think I saw on Cathy Z's blog (?), I decided it was time to get talking to my nephew and nieces to make sure I capture them right now. Living away from them, I worry that I miss a lot of detail and a questionnaire seemed to be a good way to find out what was making them tick - now!

My nephew was the first one to be questioned, sending him a letter of congratulations (and questions) on losing his first tooth, which I'm told he completed alone straight away.

Love all those wishes he wants! On my layout, I also used his (mis)spellings because I found that so endearing!

Next up was my oldest niece who had recently begun concentrating on gymnastics after being talent spotted. It was "Absolutely Incredible Kid Day" which seemed an ideal time to send her a sweet note and some questions too.

I love that she started off describing herself as "beautiful" and then changed it to "gorgeous" - much better a word I think!

And last but by no means least was the Diva in the family. Years younger than the rest, but petulant, demanding and utterly adorable all the same! I sent her a German tradition of a "Schultüte" for her first day of school and some questions.

This was the only word in her own writing - so cute!

And I got a drawing of a giant balloon being attacked by an enormous, multi-coloured shark on the back. Definitely worth keeping! ;-)

The pages were completed and brought back. And sat in a drawer. Every now and again, I thought about dragging them out and getting it done but it seemed such a lot of work and so it was put to the bottom of the list again.

Until this week.

Kaboom! This page was the perfect solution for Pam's wonderful inspiration. I used a page from a Nic Howard class I'd taken over at BPC as the basis for the design and have made pockets on the back to hold the original pages with all their own answers which were too many to fit onto the layout. The photos are current too so I really feel like I have this moment in their lives captured to a degree. And that makes me smile!