Crafty Secrets RAK

Yup, another yummy give-away! I Inspired participants who link to the IIM2 post below between now & July 9th will get in on the chance to win these 2 sets of unique-vintage-cute Crafty Secrets stamps & journals. Check out their Heartwarming Vintage blog for all kinds of ideas, these are so fun for scrappers, stampers & crafters alike!

IIM 1 Rak Winner

I am loving the designer eyes you girls have!! Where you are finding your inspiration is amazing!

The winner of the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Give Away Goes to:

Amanda L!
Amanda you are the 8th link below and our winner because "sqinchie", a made-up word I used in this layout, has 8 letters in it! Email your addy to iinspireme@hotmail.com and Tattered Angles will send you the goooods. And they are gooooods! I love Glimmer Mist!

Isn't it good to get involved!? That brings me to another thought: this week's topic was very wide open as you can see by the girl's layouts below. But if you want to think ahead, think kitchen. Our next July 9th post will be inspired from the kitchen.

Here are some of the awesome You Inspired pages!! Enjoy the layouts and your weekend!


IIM 2

Good Wednesday Morning!! :) Some business first: We'll post our wonderful Glimmer Mist rak winner tomorrow (Thursday the 26th). So if any last minute scrappers out there want to play along today I'll give you till tonight to get in on this 6 bottle give-away!
Now. Away we go with an I Inspired day, these girls rocked it out........

Thank you Amy! [applause & whoohoos all around!]
Before we get to all the lovely layouts - how about a quick Q&A?

Assuming you were just as artsy as a child, what's the cutest/goofiest/silliest thing you ever made? The first thing that comes to my mind was a poster I created in elementary school. There was a poster contest for the school carnival and I entered a drawing of a horse (I was a horse-crazy child) in a field of flowers, complete with 3-dimensional, tissue flowers. I remember spending a long time at my drawing board in my room, gluing down each little square of tissue paper. I should’ve known then, I’d was destined to be a scrapbooker! Oh, and I won the contest. :-)

After winning MMM, what was the coolest thing you learned from working with Memory Makers? Shortly after winning MMM, I totally revamped my scrapbook room. I posted photos of it on the MMM blog and the editors liked them so much, they approached me about writing an article about scrapbook supply organization and creating 5 layouts to go with it. I kinda freaked out a little at first, but once I got started on it, I had a blast. I thought writing the text would be the hardest part, but the real challenge was creating 5 layouts about different aspects of my scrapbook room. In the end, I love the way those layouts turned out and now I look at things a little differently when I decide on a subject to scrap about.
Are you going to CHA this July? If so, what are you most excited to do there? Yes, I’m going to CHA! I’m so happy be helping in the Fancy Pants Designs booth again. I totally love working with those guys! Super nice people and the product rocks! But, I think what I’m most excited about is getting a weekend away from the kids. Although this will be my first time away from my little one, Josie, so I’m sure by the end of the weekend, I’ll be dying to get home. If you are going to CHA too, drop by the booth and say hi, I’d LOVE to meet ya!

By Amy:
Her colorful mixing bowls, these are called Texas Ware confetti bowls for you antique flea finders, were the inspiration for her 'baby's first bath' layout. The splatter affect is great inspiration for a water theme. She used a toothbrush and watered down acrylic paints in warms hues. It is the water & acrylic mixture that helped achieve such a beautiful & vivid texture.





By Christine:
This new purchase of Christine's sparked the memory of a particular beloved photo she was saving. Christine mimicked the title work & color scheme exactly and positioned the photo right under the largest word: love. This is beautiful and striking interpretation from a T-shirt!





By Amie:


These are Amie's favorite shoes. Funky in plaid and stylishly tattered, she recreated the same in her patterned paper by ripping, rolling and crumpling. It's the perfect added texture for these rambunctious photos of her daughter. Even the shoe's laces give inspiration for incorporating journaling strips! Details details details!


By Suzanne:
The weaving vines over the window pane inspired Suzanne use of ribbon through her daughters 6 sweet photos. The small berries are represented in the random buttons. She used the neutral tones of the wood but backed the photos onto bright yellow paper for a 'pop'.

These dishes were a birthday treat for herself. She bought them because she loved the pattern so much and by doodling the same florals on paper it makes a cool detail that I love too!



By Jill:


Talk about and eye for design! Jill didn't just see a side dish in this bowl, she saw a layout! The bright colors and chopped bits inspired her to do a 2-page multi photo layout that incorporated lots of great photos and lots of great pattern papers. Since they are in small bits, mixing mini pictures in as well, the patterns work out to a cool, clean design.

By Cat:


She found these two tiny blue notes in her son's pocket. He had written them in school, they read: D+K=B, D=Devotion, K=Kindness B=A Better Community. A better community; what a reason to scrap a page! Cat is rightfully a proud mom who's son has a big heart and he is my inspiration!






By Jaime:
The colors, patchwork pattern and textile nature of this quilt inspired Jaime's 'goofy' layout. She used the patchwork pattern in a small dose which is often all you need to achieve the design you're after. And Jaime did it beatifully here.

By Delaney:

The looped metal trim inspired Delaney to add it as a detail on this card. It really makes the card, adds texture and a unique touch. She has an eye for detail that always awes me.

By Donna:

Donna is in a southwestern state and an earthy girl at heart. I've always noticed those details in her home and here is a prime example. She used the ribbed textures, bold colors and western patterns to make this introspective layout about herself as the middle child.


By Vicki:

When I saw this cool picture of her vintage fan I couldn't image the amazing translation Vicki could spin out of it. The colors, patterns and placement of elements make this circle Page Frame layout as interesting and demour as her vintage-looking collection in the photo.


By Lana:



These iron hangings hang high on our bedroom wall and are the beginnings of a collection. They are what I look twice a day, morning and night and I love the asymmetry of where they hang. The Hambly transparencies were an easy translation for the iron but the colors needed to be lighten and I used a blue background instead.

This vase and stars sit at our front door and everytime I see them they seem to be flying out like butterflies. The glitter and natural colors inspired me to do this page of my busybee daughter doing a puzzle on the couch.




First Inspired Give Away!

We are 1/2 way through our first inspiration set, remember we're here every other Wednesday! Need a little incentive-kick-in-the-scissors to get you going? Well you girls are some lucky chicks because guess which generous company will send out 6 bottles of the fabulous Glimmer Mist fall pack to one I Inspired participant next week? That's right - Tattered Angels!

So get those I Inspired layouts linked up to the "IIM June 1" post below by next Wednesday so we can know who to pick from!

The 6 colors in the fall pack (not represented below) are; Auburn, Cinnamon, Huckleberry, Sage, Simply Khaki and Twilight.

IIM June 1 !!

Are you near a mirror? Yes? Good. Now look in the mirror, focus positive thoughts and repeat after me; "I live to create and I inspire me." One more time. "I live to create and I inspire me." Sounds silly but I bet you feel better huh? Just a lil' reminder there for you in case you're in a 'crut'. :P Well ok, let's set the sillies aside and start this post!


Welcome scrappers! This begins the I Inspire Me challenge! Every other Wednesday we'll be here in full force (and a few extras in between =) for some new perspective and tons of eye candy to take with us into the scraproom!! The goal: to Inspire Yourself using the things you've already fallen in love with ie; your shoes, home decor, your furniture your outfits.. I could go on & on!


When I thought about the idea; starting a blog filled with lifts of ourselves essentially, I had no idea the kind of direction I'd find. You know that show, Find Your Style on HGTV? I've watched it many times and thought "Pshaw! So what! Pick out what you like, big deal. Who can't do that?" @@ Uh... Me! That's who. Sometimes. And sometimes it is MOSTtimes. But when I do what I love, inspired directly from other things I love, the scrap pages just flow out and guess what? I'm lovin' the results!

We want you all to do the same; Inspire Yourselves and share what ya' got! The girls all rocked it out in their own way, with their own details and style. We hope you find your own style, inspire yourselves and look within, or around you. Take pride in your creativity and translate it to your pages! :) Don't forget to include a photo of your original inspiration when you post your work & link up to us with a comment!

By Jaime:

This couldn't get any cuter! The ribbon tied frames on the wall are lovely and when Jaime added the same idea to her page it's a totally new use of ribbon than we normally see. The things we may not think of while sitting a our scrap tables can turn out be genius ideas!




By Vicki:

She used the triadic color scheme found in her summery counter top vignette. Vicki created the same 'vintage' feel of her kitchen in her layout by the use of lace details, gingham ribbon and machine sewing. Since these colors together are pleasing to the eye in real life, there's no reason to think they wouldn't also 'pop' from a layout - and Vicki proves that with this delightful page.





By Jill:
Ideas are born in unusual places. Jill was busy in her house when this laundry basket caught her eye. Behind the white grid openings peeks another bag revealing a black pattern. Her grid design is enhanced in the same way; by adding small surprising photos, unexpected rubons, interesting patterns and her personal journaling of 11 lessons learned after 11 years of marriage.


Congrats on your anniversary Jill!! 11 years, now that is very inspiring!!





By Tessa:

Color, color and fun patterns! Isn't that so Tessa? I love how her assembly of scraproom chatskies inspired the contrasting colors and black details in her feline layout. She replicated the blue background in the paper layering and added a 'dash' of black in her handmade frame.

By Delaney:


The classic tone-on-tone stripe pattern in Delaney's beautiful piece of furniture inspired her 'Class of '01' layout. She layered strips of similar papers in muted sage colors to reflect the same elegance she loves in her chair. It is a perfect use of design for this meaningful layout about wearing her Honors sash.




By Donna:

Her hubby's woodwork is found everywhere around their house. Donna broke from her recent "norm" and went wild with acrylic paint creating the main circular design. She used the same warm colors she lives in which is perfect for her outdoorsy, candid photo of her 20 year old self. And don't miss her journaling; it'll make you chuckle! :)



By Lana:
Lana's beaded bracelet is a new fave of hers. And since the warmer weather has arrived she's been living in these shorts and white tank. She machine sewed stripes on the tan paper to reflect the same ribbed texture. The round beads were translated into the pop of teal color found in the die cut clouds under the title.





By Amie:


Amie mimicked her table's ornately painted detail by creating a handmade border. Her daughter's beautiful layout is as sophisticated and eye catching as the piece of furniture is in her home. This set shows how easy it is to recreate what your decor style is on a page.

By Cindy:


Her kitchen proudly displays these framed spices and how perfect a page topic is it that her sweet daughter is snacking on yummies? The grid pattern was Cindy's jump start for this page design, such a cute way to include 6 small photos. Wouldn't this make a great sketch!?




By Cat:

She used eclectic elements against a stark but warm background just as she has in her office bookcase. Cat's interesting self portrait contrasts in black. More warm browns & yellows are picked up in the details. And the topic of interest is even more relevent, she says she "IS NOT wrinkle free". Now her antique inspirations have an even deeper meaning.





By Christine:


And last but ceeerrrtainly not least are Christine's two layouts. Both are inspired from - you guessed it - a bottle of shampoo! The theme, logo, title and subtitle all were elements she beautifully translated into pages about her children and the raising of them. The second one, "wash rinse & repeat" is a clever title that inspires me to look twice at any product labels for cute sayings and witty titles.