Challenge #235 - week of 31st October 2016

Happy Halloween everyone.

I've been trying hard to come up with something that's linked to this creepy time of year without it being specifically Halloween itself. We've had inspirations from being scared and pumpkins but I think today we are going dark.

This week, I'd like you to be inspired by night time.

Ideas that spring to mind on this topic are things that go bump in the night, the dark nights at this time of year for us in the northern hemisphere, taking a moonlight walk, even the appearance of the super moon which happened in October but which we will also get on 14th November and December. Perhaps you'd like to talk about your love of night time or maybe how scared you are in the dark. A ghost story under the stars at camp or a particular Halloween memory one scary evening.  Night time photos can also be a way to take this. There's a lot of different ways to interpret the prompt.

And for inspiration, here are a couple of layouts I made some time ago from the same Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit which could fall under this category - one using a photo of a super moon a few years ago to talk about my moon inspired mood swings, one about stepping out into the black one night while we were in Canada and one featuring "dark" photos!

Obviously I didn't have photos of this particular experience so I simply used a photo
taken earlier that very evening to represent my experience.

And with that, I wish you a great week, whether or not you'll be dressing up in costumes and heading out into the dark night, or not!

We'd love you to use 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#235 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 up your photo to the group with the tag WM#235 in the write up text so that we can find it.

WM#234 - be inspired by leaves

I made this layout at the beginning of the month, during the first few days of LOAD1016 (the Scrap Happy family only LOAD).

You all know that this is my favourite time of year and when I took my first few autumnal photos I realised that I needed to create a hashtag to represent how I feel at this time of year. #watchmesmile seemed so obvious.

Actually, this layout uses two WM prompts. In addition to WM#234 - be inspired by leaves, the LOAD prompt the day I made it was to use the Whimsical Musings recipe in prompt WM#214 - Musings À La Whimsy which was great as I hadn't got around to that one yet! 

So I grabbed my Counterfeit Kit Challenge October kit, Lucid and pulled together this layout. I added in the Crate Paper striped design to my kit as that was in my box (I was scrapping away from home and had limited supplies). 

In fact, this single sheet of paper has proved to be a fabulous addition to the kit and has really lifted every layout I've used it on. A little goes a long way. I picked up two sheets of it from Scrapabilly but think I'll need another one or two - there's just something about the mix of colours which is just sooooo good.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge October kit, Lucid lo#1

The Pinkfresh Studio pocket page cards are proving a little tricky to use as most of them have a full design and are not suitable for journalling as such. But this one seemed perfect with the "ongoing story" text which is certainly what my love for all things autumnal is.

I particularly enjoyed making a page without necessarily using the browns, yellows and oranges associated with this time of year. The contrast of the papers and embellishments to the photos proved interesting and fresh to me.

So, two Whimsical Musings prompts on one page. I really ought to print out the list and see what's left for me to work through (there are a lot!). Would you like to join me in catching up with past inspiration from time to time?

Just have a look at the list here and when you've created, make sure you share.

You can do that at either of our Whimsical Musings groups which can be found at Flickr (here) or over at Facebook (here). Whichever is better for you is great for us. We will find you! Tag your layouts with WM#XXX so that we know which prompt you followed.

WM#233 - be inspired by the Blue Heart of Delft

I was late - as usual - making up my layout for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop last night and needed to make a page under time pressure. I had less than 60 minutes while the Formula 1 race was on to pull something together so that I could photograph it this morning to share on the hop. This might actually be the closest to the wire I've been.

Anyway, I was looking around for a story to tell and my eye fell upon the less than stellar Instax shot I had of the Blue Heart of Delft in question and even though the shot I shared on the blog last Monday was better, it seemed like a good idea to just use this print that I had in my hand.

Yes, it's a bit small to be there all on its own on the page but I wanted to use the Pinkfresh Studio paper as a full background and didn't want to cover too much of it up so it all sort of fell into place.

For the Counterfeit Kit Challenge, I went with the prompt #1 - to use fussy cutting on my project as well as prompt #3 - to fancy up the page killing several challenge birds with one stone.

Of course, the page is made using my Counterfeit Kit Challenge October kit, Lucid (lo#7) which is proving very successful. As you can see, I fussy cut roses from a Heidi Swapp paper - in fact, I cut up the whole sheet and have now used all the roses across three different layouts. It was only after I'd added them that I realised that they were actually totally reminiscent of the Delft Blue tiles which the town is so famous for.

And what about my page dress up? I added a splash of gold here and there with the transparency and the loopy thread (why do I so often forget to do this - I always love it!) and made sure I had a good splash of pretty pink to contrast with the blue and aqua tones.

You could also say that the mini strip of multi coloured paper there on the left is also just a pretty up strategy. I felt that I needed to get some of the brighter colours from my photo stack over to the other side to even things up.

I also think the tassel is also part of my dressing up the page as it's purely there for decoration and serves no other purpose! There are so often elements on my pages which have meaning - to me even if the reader can't always see it - but sometimes, I just like to literally pretty up the page by adding something like this.

And there you have it. Done.

Delft needs a fuller page which I'll do in time but I'm happy that I got this page done as a starting point.

We love it when you share too and you can do that at either of our Whimsical Musings groups which can be found at Flickr (here) or over at Facebook (here). Whichever is better for you is great for us. We will find you! Tag your layouts with WM#XXX so that we know which prompt you followed.

Challenge #234 - week of 24th October 2016

There are some prompts that just need repeating. But of course, I don't want to literally repeat them. More the timing of the prompt means that a similar type subject is needed, such as Christmas, New Year, birthdays and yes, autumn.

Looking back at the list, I can see that we've had autumnal colours schemes and mood boards (WM#1, WM#60,  WM#138), there's been Oktoberfest (WM#188) or even turning the clocks back (WM#189) but what about that most typical symbol of this time of year? Leaves.

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

I took these photos just last week and they literally make me smile - hence my recent use of the hashtag #watchmesmile. Every. Single. Day.

Now, as you can imagine, I've recorded my love of autumn very often. Perhaps too often you might say. But I just can't resist those leaves!

Here are just a few.

As always, I think there are a few ways to interpret this prompt. You can go literal and talk about how you love this time of year with all the beautiful coloured leaves - I'm sure many of you will have stories to tell of kids or dogs playing in leaf piles or how about the work it takes to clear your garden of all those beautiful leaves. You could use some leaf designed paper, or leaf elements. You could take a symbolic photo of one particular fallen leaf such as in my first layout here and talk about it. I've already got a layout to share with you on this prompt and i can feel a layout using the leaf photos I've shared at the top of the post...

Where will the falling leaves take you this week?

We'd love you use 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#234 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 up your photo to the group with the tag WM#234 in the write up text so that we can find it.

Challenge #233 - week of 17th October 2016

Well, the dreaded lurgy caught me out last week and amongst the aching bones and the sniffles and sneezes, not a single scrappy action occurred which is why I haven't made and shared my page from last week's prompt :-( But I'm on the mend and I should be back up to paper speed in the next day or two. A week of LOAD1016 has been missed which is a shame and I'm unlikely to catch up but let's see what I can come up with before the end of the month.

In the meantime, I'm writing this up before I head back over to the Netherlands to meet up with baby sis and family again tomorrow. The whole family has been there in south Holland for the last few weeks and I was there last Monday too. We visited the very picturesque town of Delft and I made sure I got a photo of a fabulous piece of art that I'd seen in sis's IG feed. It's known rather cleverly as the Blue Heart of Delft and not only represents the heart of the city but also the blue of the famous Delft Blue tiles which could be seen in all corners of this pretty town. Delft is also known as the home of Vemeer - he of The Girl With the Pearl Earring. I'd very much like to go back one day for some real exploring.

Anyway, I digress. This week I'd like you to be inspired by the Blue Heart of Delft.

Pick the colour of the heart itself or the combination of colours in my photo (that pink was perfect as a contrast). Maybe a trip to the Netherlands is the way you'd like to take it or the famous painting by Vemeer. Do you have any Delft Blue or at least replicas whose story you'd like to capture? I'm sure there's something in there for you to pick up and run with.

We'd love you use 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#233 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 up your photo to the group with the tag WM#233 in the write up text so that we can find it.

Challenge #232 week of 10th October 2016

I'm pretty caught up with the ScrapHappy family exclusive LOAD1016 at the moment so I'm here with a very quick prompt for you. And I'll be sure to get it done and shared with you by the end of the week. In fact, I have a few to show you from the first week already!

I'd like you to be inspired by your signature technique.

Whether this is a technique you find yourself doing just recently or something you've done from day  one, let's celebrate those things that you do on your scrapbook pages which make a page distinctively you!

I'm back into thread, twine and splatting right now - my LOAD layouts from the first week are full of them! But I'm always taking my layout photos at the end of the night in terrible light so they're not shown at their best. I promise to find time this week to take some better photos and post them here.

In the meantime, thread, twine and splatting definitely comes in waves so why don't I share a few previous makes?

We'd love you use 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#232 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 up your photo to the group with the tag WM#232 in the write up text so that we can find it.

WM#231 - inspired by flamingos

It may seem a little random but there are a lot of flamingos out there if you haven't already noticed. Scrapbooking products and for around the home - flamingos are on trend!

So when I challenged you to use flamingos on your layout, I was also challenging myself.

And I did it. 

The layout isn't a serious one - really just for fun - but I used several flamingo items on the page and recorded a little story about my love for flamingos and the fact that I have lots more product so I'm going to need to find more reasons to use it up!

Sorry the photos aren't stellar - just wanted to get a shot and upload it as soon as I got home!

I added my journalling to the back of this little journaling card.
It's not private but I liked the card and thought it was an ideal place to write a few words

Just a light-hearted page to show you that your page doesn't really need to be fixated on the flamingos themselves - just incorporate a few items, use flamingo pink or even just use a single element (such as the cute paperclip) I used all three of these ideas on one page and it was fun to just cut into those papers and get them onto a page.

Again, that's what it's all about, right?

I've got a photo and an idea for last week's prompt that I haven't yet managed to pull together. Hopefully in the next few days...

When's the last time you made a page - just because???

We love it when you share too and you can do that at either of our Whimsical Musings groups which can be found at Flickr (here) or over at Facebook (here). Whichever is better for you is great for us. We will find you! Tag your layouts with WM#XXX so that we know which prompt you followed.

Challenge #231 - week of 26th September 2016

I've been saving this prompt for some time. But if I leave it too long, the trend will be gone and it will be too late!

But sometimes, I don't want to use up all my "good" prompts at once! Or rather, maybe I should say, my own favourite prompts...

I'd like to challenge you to use a very on-trend motif. It's pink and can be found in home decor as well as scrapbook products these days! Can you guess?

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

I've been collecting some flamingo items over the last few months from Scrapabilly but either I've been reluctant to use it up because it's all so adorable, or I don't really know how to incorporate flamingos into my everyday layouts! I've never been anywhere with flamingos for example, nor do I have any particular affinity with them - outside the scrapbook stash I'm hoarding keeping for that special layout. So I'll be stretching my creative muscles with this prompt alongside all of you!

It would appear that I have far more flamingo supplies than any single scrapper should have!

I did manage to use a few foam flamingos and she small elements last year on two Scrapabilly layouts but I had to stretch why I was using them in my mind!

So, how will you find a way to bring flamingos to your scrapping this week? I can't wait to be inspired by you!

We'd love you use 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#231 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 up your photo to the group with the tag WM#231 in the write up text so that we can find it.

Challenge #230 - week of 19th September 2016

Last week I celebrated 10 years of blogging over at Recklinghausen Musings with a layout I shared here too (see post here). But it made me realised that 10 years ago was the day we travelled to Nova Scotia for our "beach holiday" and it's got the best memories. It's encouraged me to look back at the blog posts and the album I made.

Being new at scrapping and enthusiastic beyond my talents (!!) I made a full 12x12 album of that holiday and used my blog for the journalling. So looking back, I can see that 10 years ago today would appear to be the day that we had a minor emergency scare that gave us an insight into what lovely people the Canadians can be. We were helped out in our hour of need by complete strangers. My blog post title says it all "NEVER underestimate the kindness of strangers"

For prompt WM#230 I'd like you to be inspired by just that. Be inspired by the kindness of strangers.

This might be a difficult one to scrap because it's unlikely that you have photos of strangers or maybe you've never needed the help of one in particular. But think about getting lost in a town, being a helpless tourist on holiday, even someone giving up their seat for you on the train or bus. Your reaction to the situation might be an interesting direction or maybe you were the stranger helping someone else out. Even though you might have to get creative with the photographs, using something symbolic perhaps, I really think there are a few directions you could take this.

I don't have a photo of the people that helped us that day and to be honest, the event can be found in that huge album...

 just one page of three from this eventful day and look at that beginner style! *sigh* for Chatterbox papers though!

... but I have an inkling of an idea of where to take this prompt. *wink*

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#230 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 up your photo to the group with the tag WM#230 in the write up text so that we can find it.

#229 - inspired by using products by a manufacturer no longer in the scrap industry

I've just blogged over at Recklinghausen Musings about this layout if you'd like to see the back story to my little blog anniversary creation.

But, for now, you knew that I'd used BasicGrey, didn't you? Urban Couture is so 2006 (or it might even have been 2005, before I started) and I think these were some of the first papers I ever got myself. I loved them so much that I used them in a year review album and then I bought myself the whole collection pack - maybe even twice!

I tried to bring it up to date with some modern techniques - splatting, distressing, layering - and matching them up with some newer products - washi, mist, Thickers, mini alphas. I also tried really hard to convince myself to use some of the fibres I'd bought to match the minimal collection pack. But I just couldn't. I think those fibres might have to go into the recycle bag...

I'm not sure about that tag on the right there but overall, the layout pleases me. If nothing else, it gets a small amount of my hoard stash of BG onto a page where it belongs!

We love it when you share too and you can do that at either of our Whimsical Musings groups which can be found at Flickr (here) or over at Facebook (here). Whichever is better for you is great for us. We will find you! Tag your layouts with WM#XXX so that we know which prompt you followed.