080116 Archi-scraps August Challenge

Butterflies!

Archi-scraps never fails to inspire.

Such a unique concept to use architecture
to provide a starting point for papercrafting!

And isn't this month's choice stunning?
Here's my take:

I gathered some remaining items from my CKC July "Hot Mess" kit for this one.
Gotta love using up old stash! And stylishly, too - it's a win/win.

I used the 2011 MME photo overlay with the tiny butterflies
and the MME "Little One" medallion.
I fussy-cut the black & white butterflies from the 2012
Woodland Park/Huckleberry Hills October Afternoon paper. 

The background paper on bottom is Kaisercraft Timeless/Newsprint.
The green bow is an exclusive from Felicity Jane.
I added the two scraps of  butterfly paper as a part of the photo matting,
plus a Jenni Bowlin butterfly rub-on for a subtle image in the background.
Speaking of a "hot mess"... did you know that the header on these is also a rub-on?

(l-r) My original loose plan for the page. Laying down butterfly rub-on. Gack - product header rubbed on, too!!!

Umm, yea... only way to save the page was to go off-center.
Here are a couple of close-ups...

(The other half of that pesky rub-on!)

I customized the 2015 Basic Grey/Tea Garden paper with some subtle penciled color.

 I hope you are inspired by butterflies & will link up your creation over at Archi-scraps!

Thanks for stopping by!

072116 WM#218 Bokeh

A favorite of Lisa's, bokeh is the effect from the way a lens renders out-of-focus 

points of light. Most of us have seen this in holiday photos, perhaps of 

strings of lights on a tree or garland. It creates a magical, dreamy backdrop.

WM#218 be inspired by bokeh inspired me to find a way to mimic the effect with paper.

I used vellum & punched an array of sizes of circles, arranged to simulate sunlight streaming in.

I'm not in love with the result but it was fun to experiment!

I used a spray adhesive which unfortunately remained visible.

(I have a note on my desk for a different adhesive to try for vellum... suggestions welcome!)

I mostly used my July "Hot Mess" CKC counterfeit kit, but grabbed a few 

ribbons & stickpins for my journaling tag. Another fussy-cut bee from my October 

Afternoon bug paper makes an appearance. This page will join others from a rest & relaxation 

beach vacation in May so I don't feel the need to give a Who/What/Where narration.

If you've seen my kit you may be wondering where that riotous floral paper came from!

B side, baby! This is the flip side of the Webster's Pages puzzle patterned paper...

I really tried to dig into what was left of my kit.

Even the sentiment under the title was the branding strip from the yellow star paper!

Don't forget that there is a list of over 200 past WM prompts to 

choose from when looking for interesting inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

071716 WM#217 inspired by "Your Tribe Attracts Your Vibe"

This was the inspiration for Whimsical Musings #217.

I knew that I wanted a page about my scrappy Design Team peeps over at 

Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog, using their black & white head shots.

I resized them to 2" width & laid them out in a grid in blog hop order.

It was then that I received some happy mail -

our own  blog leader, Lisa Hausmann, had sent us CKC flair!

SO. COOL.

 I'm a little ashamed to say that I promptly 

deconstructed her cute card to use on my page!

What could be a better accent along with a CKC flair?

Oh - and a tiny sprinkle of sequins that were included,

plus a little dash of Lisa with the coil of twine : )

These lovely ladies are indeed my "tribe" of Master Forgers.

We stretch our creative muscles each month and create a papercrafting

kit from our own stash based on  a current trendy kit offering.

It's a great way to re-imagine some of our forgotten 

or tired scrap stash & get it onto a page or project.

Please join us at the link above!

Thanks for stopping by!

071616 CKC July Challenge #3

Pebbles Happy Day "Puzzled" paper

 Challenge #3:  Inspired by - Sitting in the Shade

Why not be inspired by word games, like crossword puzzles, anagrams, jumbles?  

 Or if you are a numbers person, how about Sudoku? 

They all make for relaxing fun when it's too hot to be doing much else.  

Yet another prompt that well suits my recent beach vacation photos!
My poor chicken white Michigan skin spent a lot of Florida beach time
under an umbrella with my dog & I took this offbeat photo to document it.

I would have loved to have had a book of Sudoku puzzles with me!

No complaints - it was still a delightful way to relax :)

 

I used the Webster's Pages Hall Pass puzzle paper in my kit, & began to layer strips of the Kaisercraft Timeless definition paper & the knotted rope B side of the Basic Grey striped paper on top of a kraft background, but it was a tad boring. I tried subbing in a white background, intending to add some inks/paints, but felt that created too much contrast.

Back to my stash... the background Studio Calico multi-stripe reminds me of beach umbrellas.
I made it custom by adding four different poems about the beach on the white lines

It's not cheating if you buy a kit & combine it with your stash, now is it?
Then my stash is fair game when using my Counterfeit Kit. Scrap on!

Take the challenge & make sure to add your creation to the Linky HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

071516 WM#219 be inspired by independence

Whimsical Musings #219 from last week:

 Be inspired by independence.

"This prompt can be as wide or as narrow as you wish to make it. Make a page all about your own Independence Day celebrations - possible for many countries around the world. You could talk about the first time you tested out your own independence or someone you know. You could make the jump to the independence of time alone. What about your love of Independence Day - the film? Or a layout about some element from a typical Independence Day celebration such as fireworks, bbq's or a family get together. Make it fun, make it meaningful, make it your own!"

I had a myriad of inspirations from this prompt which I may revisit, but the obvious 

here in the U.S. was our 4th of July celebrations. When I built my July CKC kit 

I had kept that in mind, so this prompt made a good marriage of the two. Here's my kit:

The multi-stripe paper & the blessings PL card both make an appearance,

but the star of the page is that "crazy family" card, which just jumped out of 

the kit with all of the red/white/blue in our photos : )

Of course, I had to dress it up a bit...

... and toss in a lot of stars..

... and some stitched doodles for a border!

 

You can see how crazy they are, lol!

Love the tradition of a patriotic small town parade.

Thanks for stopping by!

071316 Date Day: Out of Our League But Enjoying the View

Spur of the moment today: mini-road trip to Great Lakes Crossing/Bass Pro Shop.

After our browse through we realized it was time for lunch... let's keep going south to P.F. Chang's...

...at The Somerset Collection

First stop? Papyrus...

Oh. My.
Gorgeous music boxes from Wooderful Life.

 Love this : )

Great fun gift for a grownup!
(I know I would absent-mindedly try to take a bite, sooner or later...)

 Restoration Hardware = steam punk-esque eye candy.
This store has certainly changed from years ago...

Riveted stainless steel with leather seat - looks like
an airplane wing, and there's a matching desk...

Loved the neutral colors of these napkins!

LOL - we have one of those amplifier horns around here somewhere (totally not kidding)

Someone is making this for our house - what a guy!
It's oversized & mounted on a lazy susan.

Swoon - this is a GIANT desk in a trunk!

Isn't this mall just totally over the top?

Oh, yes!

This window caught my eye - can you see that wallpaper inside???
Love the sentiment in the window as a page title.
Posted especially for my scrappy bff, Lynnette : )

One for the road...

Loved the graphics in this display.

Special gift from my sweetie from Papyrus <3
(yep - it's a fox!)

071216 CKC July Challenge #2

Challenge #2 Inspired by Cool Waters in Hot Weather 

Check out this fabulous color scheme where the cool colors 

of the water balance the warm yellow and orange - nicely.  

Purposefully combine cool and warm colors together,  

take a cue from the photograph itself, or even use something liquid 

when making your project ( ink, mist, paint, gesso, glossy accents, etc.)

 Susanne certainly hit the perfect inspiration for me 

while I was working on my beach hopping vacation mini-album,
or so I thought. I changed course when I found this wet photo from 2015:

Oh. My.

A quick look in my "Hot Mess" July kit didn't yield any of the orange color I desired, but don't forget about your secret stash - the "B" sides of your papers, that often yield what you have need of.
The butterfly paper had the orange color used in the double mat of my photos.

Kit reveal blog post HERE

During the course of putting my page together I cut away a hidden section of the background
October Afternoon bug paper so I could fussy-cut a few of those cute bugs for embellishments!

(You won't tell, will you?)

As the page progressed I needed just a little something...
These came to the rescue with another pop of orange & the perfect sentiment.

I think I managed all of the colors in the inspiration!

Sometimes I have a tough time deciding when the page is done,
but with a busy background there isn't much extra real estate!

One of three insects fussy-cut & popped up for emphasis.

Now YOU go find something to scrap that is cool/warm or wet!
Make sure that you post your creation to the CKC Linky HERE
Happy scrapping!

Thanks for stopping by!