Week 2- Tuesday: Inspired By... Challenge #4

This weeks Inspired By... image was chosen by Katie. I've actually had this image pinned for years. I love reading and books and things organized by color, so of course I love this bookcase. I decided to use it for today's inspiration post. Whether you're inspired by the books, the colors or something else I hope you join us!

 via pinterest.

Katie's Layout: My mom just finished working on a quilt that was rainbow, which meant that there were these nice rainbow fabric scraps laying around. I decided to use them as part of my background. I stitched the fabric down and then my photo as well. When I was sewing down my photo is shifted so it's a bit crooked but it doesn't bother me too much. ;)

Emily's Art Journal Page: I loved the piece Katie chose to inspire us this week, but I found myself with a bad case of scrapper's block when I sat down to make a layout for this challenge. So I changed course a little bit and decided to pull out my art journal and do a simple page to try out some new paints and work on my painted script.

Week 1- Freebie Friday #6

We offer free downloads every other Friday, which you can find here.

Today's freebie is designed by Katie:

A couple of weeks ago I shared a free download for Layout Sketch Templates. Today I decided to create a similar template only for cards.

I made one with horizontal templates and one with vertical. (I didn't do any square cards, but you could always use the 12"x12" layout template for those if you wanted.)

Here's a peek at my card sketches so far:

Download the Horizontal Sketches here.
Download the Vertical Sketches here.

Week 1- Thursday: Color Challenge #4

Emily is on vacation this week, so it's just me (Katie) today! I was super inspired when making this layout.

For this challenge, I looked through my color pinterest board to see if I'd pinned anything I wanted to use. I found this color scheme "Frosted Brights" by Design-Seeds. I love the hot pink + blue combo. 

Katie's Layout- I started with a navy blue background and a bunch of small pink scraps which I just collaged onto my page. I stamped the spirographs with gesso to get the lightest shade on the color scheme. I didn't add as many light blue/aqua embellishments as I planned to, but I added a few from Amy Tangerine and Basic Grey.

Link up your projects (layouts, cards, etc!) using this color scheme below by July 18th for a chance to be featured!

Week 1- Tuesday: Layout Sketch #4

Our challenge schedule is back to week 1, which means a layout sketch! If you want to see the schedule for the month, take a peek at our challenge schedule page. It should clear things up if you get confused.

Emily designed the layout sketch for todays challenge.

 Katie's Layout: I loved Emily's sketch, but what I really liked about it was the journaling along the edges. I kept the 8.5x11 format, but I placed that onto a 12x12 and spread things out a bit. I added stripes of gesso around the edges of my 8.5x11 paper, and once it was dry, journaled on top of that.

Link up your projects by July 18th for a chance to be featured!

Featured Projects!

We love seeing your projects and as a thank you for joining our challenges we feature some of our favorites in a post! We hope you like our new schedule and if you're wondering what challenges are next, be sure to take a peek at the challenge schedule, here.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway from Rukristin, here. There's a great prize up for grabs!
Now for a bit of inspiration from our readers:

Featured layout from the Sewing Technique Challenge:

by Kate Blue

Featured card from the Card Sketch Challenge #2:

by Julie T.

Featured layout from the Scraplift Challenge #3:

by Laura Turcotte

Week 4 - Thursday: Bonus Challenge + Giveaway!

As you can see on our schedule, Thursday of Week 4 will always be a "bonus challenge" - that is, it'll be something random that we choose each month, to add a bit of freedom and variety to the schedule.

This time, we're pleased to issuing a challenge inspired by Kristin Tweedale's free summer storytelling workshop, Find Your Voice. Both of us are currently participating in Find Your Voice (and I, Emily, am on the contribution team), which is a workshop aimed at developing storytelling skills through crafting, prose, and photography (or any other method you choose). You can join in any time - it's an 8-week course and week 3 begins on Monday.

To get you going, though, our challenge this week is to create a scrapbook layout without photos! (Crazy, right? But it's easier than you think, and a lot of fun!)

Emily's Layout: The easiest way to go about this challenge, I think, is to grab a large piece of ephemera and treat that as your photo. I took this advertisement card from 35 Denton, a music fest I attended in March, and paired it with a 4x6 journaling card, then built my layout as usual. I love that Amy Tangerine's older Sketchbook collection had papers that matched the ad almost perfectly! (And yes, I used that sequin stamp from my Studio Calico kit again. I can't get enough of it right now!)



Katie's Layout:
I don't scrapbook without photos much, so it's definitely a challenge for me! I decided to treat my layout a bit more like I would an art journal page. I used gelli prints and cardstock, and I attached my little card on one edge with washi tape, so that it flips open and my journaling is on the inside.

And now, thanks to Kristin's generosity, we have a GIVEAWAY! There are a couple of different ways to earn entries, but we would highly encourage you to create a project for this challenge and link it up below the giveaway widget for the highest chance of winning this great Find Your Voice prize pack, which includes a Find Your Voice stamp, some flair, and a 3x4 card!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week 4 - Tuesday: Recipe Challenge #2

In the recipe challenge, we give you a list of "ingredients" to work with to create your layout or project. Today, the ingredients are: twine, sequins, solid card stock, and bubble wrap!

Emily's Layout: On this layout, I did some stamping with bubble wrap and white paint on a background of solid red card stock. I used some black and white bakers twine to add dimension to the clusters of embellishment, and then topped it off with some stamped sequins.



Katie's Layout: For my page, I started off with a piece of white 12x12 cardstock and a 8.5x11 blue cardstock. I realized that by putting the blue cardstock near the top of the page, it makes a big faux polaroid.
I did a bit of bubble wrap stamping and wrapped twine around my layout, but I dug through my stash and couldn't find any sequins, so I just doodled a few. I love the look.

Link up your projects by July 18th for a chance to be featured. Come back Thursday for a fun challenge and a giveaway! :)