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.

(Source)

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 #50 Winner

Such cute projects last week for the Baking Inspired Challenge.  The winner is:

Rose

(love that paper pieced toaster)

Congratulations Rose!

Be sure to play along with the Red, White and Black challenge!

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.

(source)

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 #49 Winner

I love the different projects that were entered into the soup challenge.  The winner this week is:

Marlena

(I love how she used the colors to create a baby card)

Congratulations Marlena!

Now don't forget to play along in the Baking Inspired Challenge.

Inspired By....#50

We are right in the middle of a big kitchen renovation so this inspiration piece really speaks to me ;)

(source)

How can you take this?  the icons? colors? kitchen feel? collage? grid? I can't wait to see.

I decided to go with the colors and the baking theme and started getting ready for my Christmas baking (that is if my kitchen is done) by creating a little treat box to give them in.  I used my Winter Tortellini & Spinach Collection by Jillibean Soup.  The template is by Perfect Presention, the stamps are from Papertrey Ink and I cut the tag with my Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2, the rolling pin with the From My Kitchen and finally the Gingerbread Man with my Gingerbread - all of them cricut cartridges.  Finally it is all tied up with some Jute Twine.

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 #48 Winner

I really loved the creations for the Neutral Inspired challenge and the winner is:

LeAnne

(love, love, love the textured leaves and burlap)

Congratulations LeAnne!  Contact me with your info and I will get the prize out to you.

Don't forget to play along in this week's Soup Inspired Challenge.

Inspired By... #49

When the weather cools off in the fall I always like to make some homemade soup for dinner, with some homemade bread.  Yum.  So that is where today's inspiration came from.

(source)

So where will you go with this one?  food, get well, circles, group of 3, colors... 

I went with the colors of the photo and had fun creating this week's project.  I used my Tricks and Treats papers (yes, Halloween ones) from Pebbles, I love when papers can be used for so many things and I have said it before... I love this collection!  I used my Cricut to cut out the purse (Suburbia) and the roses (Art Philosophy).  I tucked a bit of some CTMH black tulle in with the roses.  The sentiment is from Unity.  Oh and the friend tag is an upcycled Maya Road tag that was attached to an album.  Wouldn't this card make a great gift card holder.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Inspired By #47 Winner

Lovely takes on last week's inspiration picture!  The winner was:

Lauren

( I just love that she used the colors for a Christmas card)

Congratulations to you Lauren!

Now don't forget to play along with the Textural Neutrals challenge, there is a prize up for grabs this week!

Inspired By...#48

Welcome to another inspiration challenge.   I love the warm and cozy feel of this photo.

(source)

How will you be inspired?  Neutral colors, texture, picnic, books, coffee...

I used my Country Boutique collection by Fancy Pants along with some May Arts Woven Burlap ribbon and the Warm Happiness Too stamp by Papertrey Ink.  This went together so quickly as I used the packaging of the paper pack - haven't even cut the paper yet.  I also scored the kraft for some more texture.  This is for the Papercraft Star challenge - warm beverage.

I am also playing along in the CAS-ual Fridays challenge - kraft

The sketch is from CAS(e) this Sketch.

Now because it is the first challenge of the month I have a prize up for grabs.

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!