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.