Inspired By...#90

Welcome to another Inspired By Challenge.  I thought this photo, and these owls were so cute./

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How will you be inspired?  Owls, buttons, texture, stripes, stitching...

I was inspired by the warm and cozy feel of them and they made me think of fall.  I also pulled out the texture and the buttons.  I used a little burlap bag and created this little Fall themed hostess thank you.  I die cut the leaves from some MFT and PTI felt.  The leaf die and buttons are from Papertrey Ink.  I then created a tag using the Front Porch collection by Pebbles and stamped some Fall sentiments from Technique Tuesday.  Finally tied it all off with some May Arts twine and a Pebbles Clothes Pin.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By...#86

Yay, I am back!  Sorry for the absence.  We had a bit of a rough summer but I seem to back in the crafting groove.  Next week is the start of school for us so I chose this photo as inspiration.

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How will you be inspired?  apples, texture, woodgrain, burlap, leaves, fall, colors....

I went with the apple and created a little back to school plaque for my classroom.  I had purchased this wooden sign at a thrift shop and I just used some of my Chalk Studio paper and Washi Tape from My Mind's Eye.  I had some cork that has been gathering dust so I figured it was time to put it to use.  First I applied the tape then stamped the Apple Stamping stamp by Unity.  I adhered the cork to the paper using my Glue Lines, then stitched it down to make sure it was held well.  Finally I adhered the panel to the wooden plaque using my Glue Lines, applied the SRM Sticker (Express Yourself - High School) and replaced the wire and hooks.  Easy Peesy!

I can't wait to see what you do!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By...#74

In honor of Mother's Day I have this inspiration for you today.

How will you be inspired?  For mom, colors, sketch, journaling...

I created an altered acrylic frame that would be perfect for a little one to fill out and then any mom would love to have sitting on a desk.   I used the Family Ties Collection.  I used my Glue Lines to adhere the pieces before sewing then once again to adhere it to the acrylic frame.

I am playing along at The Paper Players this week:

Can't wait to see what you do!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By...#72

Welcome to the new Inspired By challenge.  Today with chalkboards being so popular I went with this fun image as my inspiration.

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How will this inspire you?  chalkboard, foliage, sentiment, colours, distressing...

I went with the chalkboard and the colors for my project.  I spray painted an old clipboard, distressed it with some white acrylic paint and then decorated it with some Yellow Submarine papers by Echo Park.  The flowers are cut with my Cricut and the sentiment is from my Silhouette.  I now have this hanging on this cabinet that graces our entry way.  

I can't wait to see what you do!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By... #67

Happy Spring!  My favorite time of the year.  Now if only mother nature would cooperate I would be much happier.

For this week, I thought about getting ready for Easter and since I love pink so much, this jumped out at me.

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What will you do? flowers, wreath, colors, Easter, fibers...

I went with Easter and pink to create this cute little Bunny Favor Box.  It is a freebie over at Whimsie Doodles.  I used the new Bundle of Joy Girl collection from Echo Park.

I can't wait to see what you do.

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By... #63

Welcome to another Inspired By challenge.  This photo really spoke to me:

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How will this inspire you?  school theme, office theme, colors, books, flowers, coffee mug...

For once I didn't go with the colors ;)  I totally love the stacked/layered/casual feeling of the image and I decided to create a little photo holder for my desk.  I used the new  Basics line by Pebbles.  I LOVE the Basics - I am all over ledger, chevron and polka dots lately.  I love pink and my favorite shade is Baby Pink but I wanted it to 'grow up' a bit so I added, gray, black and honey and I am so happy with how this project turned out!  I have it sitting on my desk and it just makes me happy.  I purchased the giant clothespin in a clearance bin at Michael's for $1 and yes I have had it for awhile and yes I am kicking myself for not getting more.  To dress up the clothespin I used a few Lania Lamb stamp sets and die from My Favorite Things, a Technique Tuesday stamp, a Unity Stamp, some Twinery Twine and a button from A Flair for Buttons.

Can't wait to see what you do!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By... #52!

I can't believe I have had this challenge blog for one year already!  I have loved seeing what everyone has created with my Inspirations and it has also pushed me to step out of my own box at times too!  I am looking forward to the next year.

Now with Christmas coming up very quickly and my love for Santa... I had to have some sort of Santa Inspiration ;)  Love this cute little guy.

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What will you do with this inspiration?  I see it as a great sketch, vintage, colors, Santa, Christmas, Text...

I pulled out the colors and went with a Christmas project.  I upcycled a couple of wooden garage sale plaques into an Activity Advent Calendar.  One December activity to be done per day as a lead up to Christmas.  I created one last year and my oldest daughter loved it so much I had to do another on. Inside the pockets are tags with an activity printed on them.  

I used my Lawn Fawn Fa-La-La collection as the colors and feel of these papers were perfect!  I have also used a lot of bits and pieces from the Be Merry products by Elle's Studio.  Finally I tied on some Peppermint Divine Twine.  

This is for the Lawnscaping Challenge: 

Now since it is the one year anniversary of Inspired By there will be a random prize draw for one lucky participant.  The winner will receive some Elle's Studio Be Merry goodies!!!

I can't wait to see what you create this week!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By... #51

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US friends! 

I can't believe that this is my 51st challenge - it has almost been one year, wow!   

I know I say this every week but I really love this photo, something about it just speaks to me.

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I could think of so many ways to take this photo: distressed, school (ie the rulers), background pattern of the floor, colors...what will you do?

I have another guest up this week.  Amy plays along in many of my challenges and I always love what she creates!  This week is no exception!!!  The pattern of the floor made her think of chicken wire and she went to work creating an organization station.  I love this Amy!  Be sure to stop by Amy's blog, Amy's Art from the Heart for lots of great inspiration.

Thank you so much for being my guest Amy!

As soon as I saw that Exit sign in the photo I knew that I wanted to use that as a jumping off point to create a Christmas themed block.  I have a box full of wooden blocks that I picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents!  I also used it as inspiration to create a few items to add to my Christmas home decor.  Now I really wanted to stage this photo with some of the cute Santas that I have collected over the years.  However, with our house in an upheaval - most of our dining room and living room is full of kitchen stuff due to the kitchen reno... I just did not feel like digging out anymore stuff.  You will have to imagine it ;)  The black tray was a thrift store silver tray that I spray painted with chalkboard paint - no chalk at home, otherwise I would have written something Christmasy on it.

This frame was also something I picked up at a garage sale for next to nothing.  It had one of those chipboard oil paintings in it and the frame was gold.  I painted the frame black, then white then sanded it slightly to mimic the distressing of the chair in the photo.  The photo is a printable I found on Pinterest, I just printed it up on Textured Cardstock to mimic the look of a painted canvas.

Now here is the block.  I sanded it down a bit then rubbed a candle over it in spots so it would be easy to distress.  I painted the front and back white and the edges black, then sanded them slightly.  I used my cricut to cut out the word, then used it as a stencil.  This was so easy and quick.

I had fun creating these quick and easy projects - and they were so inexpensive, yay!

I can't wait to see what you do!

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By...#44

Happy October! I am loving the neutral color palette that has been popping up for Halloween lately so when I saw this photo I was all over it ;)  

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How will this inspire you?  Halloween, pumpkins, neutral colors, the texture or what about the black and white checked plate?  

I immediately thought of my All Hallow's Eve collection by Carta Bella and went with the Halloween theme and the neutral colors.  I upcycled a garage sale plastic frame, an empty plastic spice jar and a glass whiskey bottle with some spray paint and some of the papers and stickers.  The witch silhoutte was cut with my Chic & Scary Cricut cartridge.  Such a quick, easy and inexpensive project for adding some more of the 'spooky' feel around our house.  

Some close ups:

It is the first challenge of the month so I have a prize up for grabs:

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By #38

Not that I want to rush or anything but fall is just around the corner as is school start up for me so... I thought this would be a great inspiration photo.  Have to say though I do love fall so I am looking forward to it.

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Inspiration options: apples, grid, colors, gingham, plaid, paper piecing, texture....

For my project I created a Back to School notebook for myself.  Always handy to have one just for jotting down ideas from staff meetings and such.  I have used a mixture of Jillibean Soup papers and elements (Grandma's Lima Bean, Winter Tortellini & Spinach, Soup Staples) and I cut the apple with my Cricut.  I have also used some May Arts Jute Twine and Printed Twill, don't you love that all of this is available at the Ribbon Carousel... including the collection pack - one stop shopping!  Finally, the small apple die that I used for the negative strip is from PTI and the tab die is from My Favorite Things.

I used Kimber's 2Peas sketch for the front of my notebook cover:

I can't wait to see what you do this week.

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!

Inspired By #21

I love this inspiration piece this week.  I love spring, I love tulips, especially white ones. 

Source

This, once again, is open to so many interpretations.  You can use the flower like I have, the colors, a gradient, the sketch... I can't wait to see what you do.

For my project I took this garage sale wooden plaque:

I upcycled it to a seasonal decor piece.  Like I said I absolutely love white tulips.  I used the La Petite Paperie Basile papers by Carina Gardner, which are available at Jessica Sprague.  The solids (white and kraft) are from the Daisy Jane collection, also by Carina Gardner.  I cut the papers the size I wanted them, adhere them to a base with Glue Dots® and Glue Lines® then I added the stitching.  The yellow paper was stamped with a Unity stamp before adhering and the label (cut with Spellbinders) was misted with some Studio Calico Mr. Huey.  The tulip is from the Bee-Loved set by My Time Made Easy.  The title is cut with my Spring Slice cartridge then crimped with my crimper (haven't used that in awhile!).  Now the best part... I adhered it to the plaque with Removable Glue Dots® so that I can change the picture for the season/holiday!  I love that!  This is also for The Pink Elephant challenge - yellow.

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots Design Team.

Now I can't wait to see what you do!  

Rules for Playing:

Create a NEW project for this challenge.

Be sure to link your blog with a direct link to the post you would like me to visit.

Please put a link on your post to this challenge.

Create a project with no more than 5 challenges including this challenge.

Feel free to use any crafting products you have!