Welcome to our second Inspiration Elevator challenge. You may recall from last month`s challenge that the purpose of this challenge group was to take our scrapbooking to the next level; to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. This month`s challenge was issued by the very talented Laura Whitaker. Here`s a sampling of what Laura asked us to do:
"For my challenge I wanted to get back to the root of scrapbooking a little bit, back to the preserving of memories; to encourage you to look at your photos a little more closely. We all have cute photos of the sweet-faced children and beautiful family members, in our lives, that we can scrapbook. But I want to challenge you to choose a photo that tells a story or evokes an emotion, something a little different than our children playing or family members posing. We all have heard that a picture speaks a thousand words. Choose a photo that was taken from behind the subject, preferably one in which you cannot see their face. Maybe you have chosen not to scrap a particular photo in past because you couldn’t see the subject’s face very well, this is the perfect time to use that photo. Then the story will be the focus and not the face. Then tell the story that goes with the photo via your journaling. This way when our families look back at this page years from now, they will truly be reminded of the moment."
What an incredible challenge!
I was flipflopping between 2 photos for most of the week, and then decided this photo would work well with some Echo Park Hello Summer scraps that I have sitting around. There is something about Echo Park that gets me fussy cutting, using foam adhesive and creating happy scenes. This photo was taken by my father-in-law after he and his friend joined us at a rooftop patio for a celebratory birthday dinner for me. As we headed back to our cars, Norm snapped this photo.
My "sun" is fussy cut from a flowery paper, but I loved the colour and thought it would work just fine for a sun. I added about 3 layers of Crystal Effects to add some shiny gloss and dimension. That strip of banners was also fussy cut. I liked the pre-printed sentiment, "There is sunshine in my heart today" between the pennants, and it fits with the theme of my page. I added stickles to the dots on the rounded banners, actually custom blending the orange one since I didn't have an orange stickles.
I did some doodling on this layout - all the whimsical stickers that make up this scene, just seemed to scream doodle on me, so I did.
This is my favourite part of my layout (next to the photo subject!). I had visited May Flaum's blog and she was talking about a trend called confetti burst. Well, I searched my stash and my daughter's and couldn't find any confetti per se - you know the shiny metallic stuff that you get at party stores and sprinkle at place settings. That stuff, and sequins and beads are all a part of what she includes in her confetti bursts. I loved the look and if I think back, I think I've done things like this before on some of my layouts. Anyway, for my non-confetti confetti burst, I searched for small buttons, and these 3 acrylic hearts to use as my larger elements. I punched out stars from the EP paper to add in, along with dots of stickles. I added doodling around the hearts which just makes them pop right off the page.
I guess I should tell you what my journaling says, since the journaling was a big part of this month's challenge, right?
One day Sarah asked me if we had wanted other kids. I told her we tried to have other children but no pregnancy lasted more than 2 months. But this is OK. I am content if this is what God planned for us. I love being a family of three!
My fellow group of artists have been working all month to create gorgeous and inspiring designs. Here's the list of my IE friends and I hope you`ll pop by and see what they have created and perhaps take a moment to say a word or two.
