Challenge #181 week of 18th August 2015

This week, I was looking over the last prompts and decided that we need to go back to something a little "old school". It's a long time since we really did a regular product type challenge and so this is that week :-)

It's something that first came out in a big way around 2009/10 and hasn't really gone away. It's something I use on my layouts (and cards) over and over again in a variety of ways and is something that I always like. My Pinterest scrapbooking board is full of them and if I'm not just cutting out shapes to form them along the top or bottom of my layout, or under my photo, then I'm fussy cutting out bits of pretty paper that can be used instead. Have you any idea what I'm talking about?

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by ... banners!

Let me share a just a couple of recent pages I've made with banners (there's quite a few out there!):

Inspired by a layout by Janna Warner

Fussy cutting is one of my favourite ways of adding some banner whimsy

An overloaded banner with loopy twine is a new favourite

A banner doesn't have to be on the main body of the page to add some detail

Another little example of fussy cutting to create a ready-made embellishment

A mix of pre-made mini cards and more loopy twine.

Where will you be adding your banners this week?

Don't forget to link up your creations over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#181.

Challenge #180 week of 10th August 2015

Wow, prompt #180. That's an awful lot of ideas, inspiration and sharing. Don't forget that you can always go back and find all our previous prompts to inspire you by clicking on the "Whimsical Musings Past Prompts" tab at the top of the page. It's always great to see those older ideas given a fresh airing.

And I'm already starting to think about how to celebrate our 200th. That definitely calls for a celebration - and as luck would have it, it'll be right before Christmas. Let's see how that pans out.

But for now, let's concentrate on today's challenge.

I had picked up this leaflet from Starbucks a long time ago. It's in English so I didn't find it here - I'm wondering if I actually brought this back from my New York 2014 trip. Anyway, I discovered it in the side pocket of a handbag I don't use very often and remembered that I had picked it up to use here on Whimsical Musings.

But I didn't want to use it just as a well-designed leaflet for the inspiration. Rather I was more interested in the infographic.

Isn't it fun? I love all those pretties lined up and repeated and reflecting the topic perfectly.

So, this week, I'd like you to be inspired by infographics.

Just a quick search on Pinterest brings up thousands and thousands of ideas (try this search here) and I know that I've seen several scrapbooking takes on this idea - one from Lisa Dickinson springs to mind.

On Lisa Dickinson's blog here

Whether you take a literal take on the Starbucks infographic in some way or create a looser interpretation, be sure to link up over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#180.

Challenge #179 week of 3rd August 2015

It's been busy round here. But there is a lull in the storm this week so I've managed to get my proverbial in gear to get a prompt up for all of you - and hopefully for myself too.

I recently came across this wonderful moodpboard/colour scheme. It's been a long time since we had a colour prompt...

Pinterest moodboard found here

And so this week, I'd like you to be inspired by colour - navy, pink, mint and a hit of gold.

Do you love this colour scheme as much as I do? I have all these colours in my New York kit that I put together shortly after my second trip this year - so that might be the way I take this prompt.

Then there'e the french phrase, the individual colours, the straws, the watercolour splotches, the gorgeous typewriter (need to get myself one!), the geometric designs on the straws as well as the cushions. You might be inspired by the collection of designs on the cushions, or the comfy look to that sofa. Any single way this mood board can be interpreted is fine by me!

We love it when you share so why not link up in our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery here, with the tag WM#179.

Challenge #178 - week of Monday 20th July 2015

This morning, our sweet Whimsical Musings friend and inspiration, Pam, sent me some wonderful photos taken over the weekend at her family reunion. They made me smile because they were full of happy smiles and lots of fun and it reminded me that I tend to spend time with my people individually rather than in a whole group!

And that got me thinking that my UK family is now spread out all over the place - with me and my brother living outside the UK at the moment and other siblings no longer living in my home town. My mum definitely misses us all! I consider my reunions when all five siblings and partners and the children in the next generation come together in one place with my mum - obviously, for many of you it will be a wider mix of people including aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins etc. Living abroad, the likelihood of my German and British family coming together is now only for our "round" birthdays and I don't want the next one of those to happen too quickly, I can assure you!

This photo was the last time we were all together, celebrating a special birthday for my sister. I tried scrapping this photo once before and then took the layout apart as it didn't work for me - maybe this is the week to try it again.

Not the best photo in the world but wonderful happy memories for me!

So, this week I'd like you to be inspired by family reunions.

You don't need me to tell you that there are many different ways to take this prompt!

As always, we love it when you share your creations over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery and don't forget to tag it WM#178.

You can find past prompts in the page tab at the top of the page incase you want to get inspired by one of the other 177 prompts you can find there!

Challenge #177 - week of Monday 13th July 2015

You may or may not know that I travelled back to the UK over the weekend to meet up with a scrappy friend, Kathy in London! We had a tiring couple of days but it was full of fun, laughter, chatting, sight-seeing and generally ooo'ing and ah'ing over the wonders that London has to offer. It was lovely to meet her and connect in real life.

I've come back with a few possible inspiration ideas but the first one that came to mind was this image:

Today, I'd like you to be inspired by the Tube!

Of course, as always, there's many ways to take this challenge. You could take the logo as a design feature or the colours. You could go in the direction of logos or symbols. You could take the name "Westminster" and whatever connotations that has for you. How about your own experience of the original "Tube" or another underground system somewhere in the world? You could just be inspired by "going underground"! See? There's a lot of scope in this one.

We love it when you share and it's been quiet over there so all the more reason! So why not come on over to our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery and upload your creation with the tag WM#177? See you there!

Challenge #176 week of 6th July 2015

Since my husband retired at the end of May, we have been working on this little cabin in the woods.

We are calling it "R+R" for Rest & Retreat.

No plumbing, no electricity - a place to unplug (quite literally!)

All of the searching for the land, the decisions made about the cabin itself, 

took him through the final year of work before retiring.

It made it a little easier to get up each morning & face the commute.

He had to decide if he would get the same pleasure out of building it himself vs. buying one.

Was the satisfaction in the creating it or using it or both?

It took some soul-searching to answer some of these questions.

What dreams have you made come true?

Is there something you have only dreamt about but not acted on as yet?

Do you have a dream that you enjoy but have no real intention to make it happen?

Is your dream a "work in progress" like ours?

Be inspired by a dream that you expect to or have perhaps already realized. 

Post your project on the WM Flickr board tagged WM#176

Challenge #175 week of 29th June 2015

One thing I learnt from our good friend Pam, as well as my artistic brother is to keep my eyes open when I am out and about. You never know what inspirational treasures are out there, just waiting to be found. My brother is particularly interested in street art and shared some of his Viennese faves when we were in the city last week. And I know that Pam loves to find a street art wall and get her photo taken there.

So when I was standing at a train platform, having missed my connection and having a few minutes to kill, I was interested to see that this graffiti really caught my eye.

There's a lot of tagging, street art and graffiti in Germany, some of it good, a lot of it not so. (And please understand that I'm not condoning graffiti - it is, after all, vandalism of property) But even I find myself admiring some of the more artistic creations and this one falls into that category.

So this week, I'd like you to be inspired by this graffiti.

I love the colours combined here - the blues, aquas, even the orange and green outline. I love the letter style and the spotty pattern here and there. I like to think about the meaning behind the word  "Spiun" - it says nothing to me per se but is clearly something very important to the "artist" who created it. Or is it "Spion" which means "spy" in German? Perhaps it will inspire me to talk about my new found attention to street art and how my brother now IGs me when he's found a new one in Vienna to add to his collection.

Will it be the colours, the design or the topic that inspires you this week?

As always, it's wonderful when you share your creations over at the Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery and don't forget to tag it WM#175.

Challenge #174 week of 22nd June 2015

The year is flying by and we are officially in the part of the year where, here in the northern hemisphere, the days are getting shorter again! When did that happen?

And then this morning, my Timehop app reminded me of this photo from Midsummer's Night last year where we sat outside with friends until it got dark - this photo was shot at 11.14pm - and enjoyed the balmy air that signalled the beginning of summer.

(Oh yes, and there might have been some football involved too if I remember rightly, it being the middle of the FIFA World Cup at that time...)

Now, while I may not be the biggest fan of summer - shock horror - I do love to note the passing seasons and the markers throughout the year that signal those changes. Summer Solstice is one of those and that is what I'd like to inspire you this week.

Be inspired by Midsummer's Day... or however you want to recognise/name 21st June

You could take the prompt literally and just feature what you were doing on any 21st June, or broader about the summer in general. You could talk about sitting outside in the long summer evenings, or maybe you went along to a Midsummer Party at some point. This day and night is celebrated in a big way in Sweden so that could drive your inspiration - holidays, Scandinavia or even Ikea. I think there's a lot of scope to find something that fits.

As always, we love it when you share your creations so be sure to head over to our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery and upload your projects with the tag WM#174.

Challenge #173 week of 15th June 2015

Yes, I have yet to create a layout with one of the recent Whimsical Musings prompts, but I live in hope :-) Perhaps this week will be the week. What about you?

This week I'm inspired by this postcard I picked up in one of the cafe's I visited last week in Vienna. It made me smile.

So, be inspired by "I *heart* ...." and fill in the blank.

So many very different ways to take this prompt. Something, someone, somewhere... Whatever is making your heart soar right now is prime for the subject of your project.

We love it when you share your creations over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr group so don't forget to tag it WM#173.

Can't wait to see what you are loving this week!

Challenge #172 week of 8th June 2015

I actually picked up the inspiration for today's challenge last week, intending to post it on Monday. Yeah, that happened!

But with other week comes the hope that it will be more organised and that scrapping and creativity will be achieved.

The weather has definitely turned here and I think summer is here to stay. We were caught out by the high temperatures and strong sun at the weekend and even managed to get a little sunburn - stupid me.

So I'm following on with the sun based creativity.

I saw this flyer in our local café and thought how wonderful it would be for some happy Whimsical Musings inspiration.

I love the combination of colours - the orange with two shades of strong red and subtle teal/aqua against the neutral beachy colour. Then there's the mix of sizes in the font, the geometrics along the bottom, even the layout of the design that might inspire you. It's advertising a summer music event so maybe that's where you will take this challenge.

Whatever you do with it, we'd love to see what you create over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery with the tag WM#172.