Sketch Challenge - Share WIth Us!

Who doesn't love a good sketch to get the mojo going or to make a page come together in a pleasing way? Use this week's sketch to create a layout/project and share it with us here!

Sketch Challenge by Jo West

Hello everyone ... What a beautiful day it has been here on the West Coast ... I hope you are all enjoying summer!! I find i don't always have time for scrapping in the summer, so i turn to sketches to help speed the process along. I really enjoyed this Pagemaps Sketch ... in fact I enjoyed it so much I used it twice! One the vintagey style layout I stayed as true to the sketch as possible ... using 3 photos, similar embellishments in both corners ... faux stitching using Dimensional Pearls and I used some older Prima papers from my stash!


On the second layout I still wanted to keep the two corner treatments somewhat true to the sketch. Instead of the 3 photos, i just used one photo, cut randomly into 3 pieces ... the entire layout is slightly off kilter and i matted everything in black to give it a bit more edge.


In both layouts I matted one of the photos to draw attention to it and I also kept the framing similar to that in the sketch.

In a crunch for time .... grab a sketch that speaks to you, twist it .... turn it ... or just do it the way it is presented ... using the sketch will save you some scrapping time! Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Now go play!

Sketch Challenge by Debby Visser

It was a beautiful day here! Chris; I might just scrap on the back deck tomorrow if this weather keeps up! Great idea!
Here is my go with this sketch:




I strayed slightly from the sketch.
The papers and the corrugated cardboard are from Magenta. I used my spellbinders to cut out the star shape and then used Tim Holtz alcohol ink to colour it the orangy colour. And to copy the lines around the layout, I stitched in two colours. I love hand stitching, thinking I need to do it a bit more! :)

Hope you get a chance to play along!
Have a great weekend!

Sketch Challenge By Chriss Hird

Happy Friday everyone!  Looks like its going to be a beautiful day!  Have you ever moved your scrap stuff outside and scrapped in the lovely summer fresh air?  Today could be that day!  Why not take this sketch from Beck Fleck (January 2009 Page Maps), a few supplies and get out into that warm summer day, doing what you love?!



This was indeed a challenge for me, I don't work from sketches very often.  I'm really not sure why, I had fun with this one!  So it just goes to show, if you step out of your comfort zone once in a while, you may be able to surprise yourself.  I did!  Here's what I came up with...

And here's a shot of the details...

When working with a sketch, don't be afraid to stray from the plan.  Get your basic idea, and then add your own ideas!  This makes it truly your own!  Have a lovely day, enjoy the weather and happy scrapping!

Happy Father's Day...

To all the great dads, step-dads, and father figures - Happy Father's Day! Scrappers, share with us your creations celebrating the men in your lives!

Happy Father's Day!!! by Virginia Wong

It's Father's Day! At our house, any "special" day is cause for celebration, cake and some chaos! LOL Here is a mini album/card that we made for my husband and Daddy to two sweet girls!


And here is the mini album. The mini album is from Urban Lily as are all the pattern papers that were used to simply accessorize the already beautiful album pages.

What I love the most of this album is the pull out pages that allow you to privately share journaling/thoughts/words to the recipient. And you can also slip a gift certificate for a loved one into one of the pockets!

Here are a few pages from my album.

I am so glad I had my girls use their handwriting on the pages and when they get older, I know that I will cherish those sweet letters.

Thanks for dropping by! And a big Happy Father's Day to you and the men who have played a fatherly role in your life.

Father's Day by Susan Tutt

It is that time of the year again to celebrate the Fathers in our life. I created this layout for my Dad to honour his life, showcasing pictures of him through the years.

I love looking through these old pictures seeing his great accomplishments and the things he cherishes. So take time this weekend to celebrate the father in your life!

Father's Day - by Cari Locken

I love celebrating my dad and my kids love doing the same for their day. But don't ya think that sometimes the hoopla for Mother's Day is so much more? I don't get it. I know in our family my husband is both an amazing dad and husband. He loves our children & does so much with them and they just adore him. We're not planning to do anything big but we are having a nice lunch with my side of the family and just hanging out for the day.

Our middle one made a book for him at school and I actually snuck a peek at it the other day when I was putting it in a "secret" place. Oh my! It made me cry. It was straight from the heart.

The kids helped me make this small gift for their dad as he loves chocolate covered raisins. We were going to get some golf tees as well but I ran out of time before this post. We may still get to that before Sunday though.

Supplies: Imaginisce "Live Loud" collection (paper, ribbon, chipboard), Scenic Route chipboard "u", Making Memories alpha stickers

And this layout is about my dad. I love him and I'm so thankful that he's my dad.

Supplies: Heidi Swapp patterned paper & chipboard crown, American Crafts thickers, Making Memories letter stickers

and this layout (I created a while ago) is about my hubby. I love how the kids admire him so and want to be just like him (... in some way)

Supplies: Core'dinations cardstock, twine, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Stampin' Up punch

And here's an album that I made last year for a class that I taught.

Just a few of the inside pages.

I hope that you are able to enjoy being with your father and celebrating him.

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!

Introducing...Two New Designers!

Good morning, fellow scrapbooking and paper crafts enthusiasts! Welcome to another Friday challenge! BUT, before we get to that, I am very pleased and excited to announce that our wonderful Design Team has grown by two! Both of these lovely ladies bring their own fresh and unique style to our team and we are all really looking forward to gaining some additional perspectives and inspiration from them. Introducing our two newest designers, Chrissann Hird and Joanne West!

Hi! I’m Chriss and I have to tell you that I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of the Design Team here at The Inspired Scrapper! I myself have been motivated by the amazing talent that resides here, within both the team and the followers who post their creations. There really is amazing talent out there in our scrapbooking community, and to be involved is so rewarding!

My husband Jamie and I have just celebrated our eighth anniversary. We have three amazing kids, Chloe, Dawson and Brynleigh. Our family also includes two dogs, Kodie and Harley, and two cats, Steve and Roxy. As you can imagine, all this activity under one roof provides us with many laughs, successes, and sometimes setbacks too – to me, all memories worthy of being preserved.

I started scrapbooking, like many others, with the birth of my first child, nearly nine years ago now. (Wow, has it really been that long?!) As you no doubt know, scrapbooking has changed so much in that time – products, both in quality and variety, design and of course popularity. Scrapping is where it’s! My ability and style have also evolved alongside those changes. I started out as a very basic scrapbooker and have since developed my own style. I like to colour outside of the lines! I love embellishing my projects with both traditional and non-conventional finds. I enjoy journaling because I want to tell the story, and while they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I still want to get my say in! And, as a Stampin’ Up Demonstrator, my love for all things stamped has been growing as well! Though I’m on a layout kick right now, I truly enjoy creating cards, mini albums and all things altered! I’m proud to tell you that I’ve been published in my favourite scrapping mag, Canadian Scrapbooker, I’ve designed and taught for one of my LSS’s, I designed a class last year for the BC Crop For Kids and have been teaching classes in my home for nearly a year now. Oh yeah, and I think sleep is highly over rated!

And so, here I am now, full of ideas, motivation and excitement! I feel rejuvenated and yes, inspired (!) and I can hardly wait to get started!


Jo West:
I have been scrapping for 5 years now … it all started accidentally when my daughter lost a good friend at the age of 13 … my daughter was having a difficult time … and I had remembered seeing a “scrapbook store” so one day I wandered in with my daughter … we had no idea what we were doing, but we found some pretty papers and stickers and stuff we didn’t quite understand as well as an album and we put together a Memory book of her friend and that was it. Two years later my mother was showing me some family history charts and I thought they would look nice on pretty paper … I wandered into a another scrapbook store and that was it … I was smitten … love at second sight! I scrap or do something with paper almost daily …My style is always evolving … but I love simple …and I love vintage, & grunge and I try to incorporate these into a simpler style. I also like to make my own embellishments and flowers. I love scrapbooking … it lets me feel like and artist and a storyteller and a historian … and it lets me be me!

Etsy Inspired Challenge By Chriss HIrd

Hi!  So here I am posting my first creation as a new Design Team member, and I'm so excited!  When I saw this gorgeous piece of art/jewellry created by ccvalenzo for Etsy, the hamster wheel that is my brain started squeaking right away!  Here's the inspiration piece:

...and here's what I came up with:

The pics are blurred out because the actual subject was not available at the time to give me permission to post the photo, so Daddy-o did, as long as I blurred it.  Totally understandable, you can't be too careful these day.  Thanks for the thumbs up!  Anyways, when I saw the inspiration piece, I knew what paper I wanted to use and that I wanted to do a canvas.  Here's some details:

I made the calla lily and leaf from cardstock.  Click here for the link to the Martha Stewart template I used to create it.  I stamped the script, then spritzed with a fine mist, scrunched it up, then opened it and flattened, then let it dry.  The glass beads are on a hat pin, stuck down the middle of the lily and wrapped with ribbon.  Next, I sprayed the flower with Glimmer Mist.  After it had dried, I painted it, inside and out, with Diamond Glaze to protect it and ensure it would keep it's shape.  A few other little embellishments complete the look I was going for.

                                       

I'm also loving this folded ribbon technique right now; it's easy, interesting and adds dimension!  To form the pleats, lay down a strip of double sided tape.  Start the pleat by folding under the left side edge of the ribbon and press it into the tape.  Then with each fold, again, press into the tape to secure.

Some other techniques/products I used include sanding, inking, Cuttlebug embossing folders and dry brushing ( with a great can of silver spray paint!  I love to get out the spray paint, reminds me of my rebel days! LOL!)

I hope I've given you some ideas here on how to get creative with what's in your stash!  Have fun with this week's challenge - I'm looking forward to seeing your creations!

Art Inspiration Challenge by Susan Tutt

This week I was challenged to use Etsy Artist CcValenzo's art piece as inspiration for my creation. This is CcValenzo's art piece.

This is the card I created.

I created texture in the hearts by using Gesso and then spraying them with Tattered Angels glimmer mist to give them color.


I hope this inspires you to create something wonderful! I would love to see what you come up with. Have a great weekend!

Art Inspiration Challenge by Jo

Hi! New member here! I am so happy to be part of this team ... the members of this team have been inspiring me for quite a while, and I am totally awestruck to be here.


Okay, the Challenge .... I love this inspiration piece by Etsy artist "ccvalenzo". As soon as I saw it I knew which photo I wanted to scrap. The image of a spiral walkway emulates the spiral shape of the background in this photo ... I have been waiting to scrap this photo for about 2 years without knowing what to do with it ... this Etsy piece provided the perfect inspiration. The flowers are diecut from white cardstock and patterned paper and their centers are made from bits of shiny mesh type fabric and glitter topped with Tim Holtz round fragments. The overlay is by Hambly, tape and patterned paper are 7Gypsies and I used two colours of the Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I also gently distressed the large piece of white cardstock by creasing and wrinkling lightly.

Inspiration comes from everywhere ... in this case, a beautiful necklace and it's background ... take pictures of things that inspire you ... surround yourself with items that inspire you ... and have fun scrapping them!

Art Inspiration Challenge by Karen

Its Friday and that means its time for a new challenge :) 

This week we are being challenged to find inspiration in this piece of art.  (Artist's Etsy ID is 'ccvalenzo') 

I was inspired by the heart image and the shell spiral in the background. Together it helped me create a layout.

I used two different Martha Stewart heart punches and arranged them in a spiral pattern like in the inspiration art piece.   I used lots of scraps for the pp. most are from Basic Grey, but there are many others in there as well. 

Hope the art piece inspires you to be creative this week!


Thanks

Wedding Challenge by Debby Visser

Yesterday was a wonderful birthday day. I was taken out for lunch and shopping, then taken out for dinner, and finally ended up socializing with friends all night.
Doing all that left me with no time to pop in here with my post.
So please forgive my lateness!! :)
(and truth be told, I wasn't quite done my layout, ssshhhh) ;)

Here is my wedding layout, it is my sil and her new hubby. Supplies were all from Scrapbooking Fanatics, they were part of my DT kit for the month. Only things that were not, were the Stampin Up paper, LYB felt word and the fabric. I have been addicted to using fabric on my layouts! LOVE it!
(watch for my fabric class to appear on the BC Scrapbooking Crop for kids site soon!)





And I wanted to share a few older layouts I have done on weddings.
These are my husbands great great grandparents. I scrapbooked these a few years ago.


And these are my husbands grandparents wedding, I scrapped these many years ago.


And this is my husbands parents.


And this is us.


Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great weekend!
Debby Visser

Happy Birthday, Dear Debby!

Today is the birthday of one of our dear and lovely designers, Debby Visser! Please join us in wishing Debby a very happy birthday!

From Erica:



From Jillian:



From Karen:



From Susan:



From Virginia:



All the best to you, Debby, for your next trip around the sun!

Hello! Welcome to another month of challenges at The Inspired Scrapper! We are starting June off with a 'wedding season' challenge. Cari and Erica have provided gorgeous cards and layouts for your viewing pleasure! Show us your creation with 'wedding' as the inspiration!



Thanks for joining in!

Wedding Challenge - by Erica Perkins

If you are like Cari and I, your own wedding photos are well preserved in albums already and have been for a number of years. The thought of scrapping them now seems ridiculous, so I feel lucky that I have siblings that are still getting married, giving me plenty of wedding photos to play with.

My kids were lucky enough to get to be a ring bearer and flower girl this past October in my sister's wedding. I'm still getting around to scrapping some of those photos, so I thought I'd share them with you today. I've never been much into the traditional wedding colours, so when I decided to scrap these photos, I didn't go buy the latest wedding papers, instead I went to my stash that I'm still trying to use up.

Supplies used - patterned paper: Basic Grey; Alpha Stickers: Collage Press: felt flower: Creative Imaginations; felt leaves: Stampin' Up; journaling sticker: Scenic Route; ribbon: Maya Road; brad: uknown. Photo credit: Kira Nelson Photography copyright 2009.

Supplies used - patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; cardstock: Bazzill; Alpha stickers: Scenic Route; cardstock sticker: Glitz deign; bling: Zva Creative. Photo credit: Kira Nelson Photography copyright 2009.

This week pull out some wedding photos (yours or someone else's), make a wedding gift, some cards, you name it and and join us in celebrating the season of weddings.

Wedding - by Cari Locken

Well, it seems that we're getting close to that time of year when we'll see more & more weddings happening during the summer months. It's been 12 years since my hubby & I got married and my photos have been in an album shortly after we got married. And to be honest, I have no desire to take them out of those plastic sheets and scrap them. I'm not sure why because they're good photos. I just prefer to scrapbook the "here" & "now" I guess.

Anyways, with all the weddings happening there's always showers & gifts that are to be given so I created a couple of cards to celebrate this blissful time of year. I've used the new "To Love & Cherish" collection from Imaginisce - a wedding collection.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish collection of papers, rub-ons, ribbons, flowers) and Core'dinations cardstock, Fiskars border punch, twine, button, rhinestones

These 2 cards are very similiar in design however with a different color added (let's say something that matches the bridesmaid dresses) the black & white combo really changes.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish collection of papers, flowers, brads), Core'dinations Impressions Cosmo Cricket Collection (black) and Essentials cardstock (yellow), button, ribbon

I'd love to see what you can create for weddings. There's many ideas out there, like wedding favors, invitations, gift bags, etc. So show us what you've created by posting a link here on the blog.