Fruit of my scraps: inspiration elevator

Showing posts with label inspiration elevator. Show all posts

Sunday, 15 February 2015

Last post for Inspiration Elevator - with Websters Hall Pass

After some thought and consideration, the time has come to retire Inspiration Elevator. But before we go, we need to hold a big retirement party, so we've invited everyone who's been involved with Inspiration Elevator back for one last reveal, and to our delight most were able to accept! We are so delighted to have so many IE alumni along this month! Thank you to each of you for helping us end our elevator ride with so much fun and creative energy!

This month's challenge is posed by one of IE's co-creators and team admin, Ann.
This month's challenge is simple, but I hope, challenging as well.
Here's the challenge: Inspiration Elevator launched on May 15, 2012 and at that time, we explained our purpose as, "Welcome to Inspiration Elevator! What a thrilling day! Today is the launch of Inspiration Elevator (IE), a challenge blog created by my dear friend Christa Uttley and me. We chose the name Inspiration Elevator because it is our intent to raise our creativity to heights through challenges issued every month. We want to raise our designs from the ordinary to the extraordinary. We hope you'll join us on our journey!

IE is a group of like minded scrappy friends who want to raise the bar in their own creative process through unique challenges that we issue to each other once a month. These won't be run of the mill challenges and we hope you'll join us each month and be inspired by the creative designs we've created."
That vision has remained unchanged over the last (almost) 3 years. The challenge this month is to just create - no holds barred. Take some time, or challenge yourself to do it in 1/2 hour if time is tight, but think about what you'd like to create if there were no agenda, no design team requirement. In other words, create for you, and enjoy the process!

So here is my creation with some papers I got for Christmas and have been wanting to have a play with....

I started with some white gesso on the base, then added some stamping and splatters of distress stain. I layered up some of the squares from the Hall Pass papers, and then added some cut outs, like the owl, books, pencils...then some buttons too. I made little polaroid frames for my photo and used some thickers for the title. The photos are from the book hunt we did around London on one of our days out last year. It was great fun and took us to new places as we hunted out the books.

We hope you'll take the time to hop through and visit each of our participant's blogs, beginning with our guests, then our current team, and finishing off with our co-founders. Feel free to leave comments and lavish each one with appreciation for all that they each brought to the Inspiration Elevator challenge over the last 3 years!

Monday, 15 December 2014

Christmas Letters

Here is a page that I made for the Inspiration Elevator (you can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges on Facebook) .

This month's challenge is issued by the creative Lisa Moen. Lisa is a busy scrapbooker who takes on every creative challenge with gusto; she works layering and clustering beautifully. This month she has a seasonal challenge for us. Here it is in her own words:

" Scrap A Christmas Past.
We all have them- one Christmas that sticks out more in our minds than others. Maybe it was when you were a child or maybe it was more recent. Maybe it was a gift you received that makes it memorable. Maybe a special visitor? Create a page, with or without photos and tell us the story behind that Christmas.."

So mine is a past Christmas - just last year..and this was the 2nd year in a row that my youngest decided to write to Father Christmas, and the 2nd year in a row that Father Christmas has left him a very special letter next to the plate where all the mince pies were - so it's about some of that special Christmas magic and the memories to go with it.

We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month: here's a complete list of this month's participating designers!

Why not give the challenge a try yourself? Then pop by our Facebook page and share with us what you created!

Saturday, 15 November 2014

Giant Chess with th Elevator

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level; to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at on Facebook .

This month's challenge is issued by me! It is a warm seasonal challenge for you, and as a Brit...to do with the weather! Here is what I told the rest of the team:

" 'cos Autumn is all about layers of leaves and layers of jumpers (in the northern hemisphere) I would like to challenge you to add lots of layers to your page....this could be layers of paints, inks, stamps, papers, glassine paper, acetate....lots of lovely layers."

I started my page with an old chipboard alphabet which I then coated in gesso, once that was dry I added some Tim Holtz silver spray ink, then dried it, then some stamps....then lots of layers of Simple Stories Legacy papers, inked and distressed and a layer of gauze and a glassine envelope ready for the journalling. Just an everyday shot of the kids playing....but I used all the letters in the background because we were at Bletchley Park which was the home of the code breakers from the second world war, so all the letters seemed very fitting. I used lots of the lovely embellishments that come with the Simple Stories papers (these are the papers I chose for this months gallery over at A Trip Down Memory Lane...I love them, so there will be lots more pages too!).

Onto lots more lovely inspiration...you are starting with me - so please follow on and see what Lisa has created - here is a full list incase you get lost.

Katherine Sutton (you are here)

Why not give the challenge a try yourself? Then pop by our Facebook page and share with us what you created! I would love to see your creations.

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Inspiration Elevator - Grandad

Here is my page base on the challenge over at the Inspiration Elevator this month - there is loads of inspiration on the blog hop and you can catch us on Facebook and share your creations there; we'd love to see how we have inspired you!

This month we are thrilled to welcome back as a guest designer with our team, the artistic and genteel, Scarlett Salomone. Her creative works are as lovely as she is!

This month's challenge is issued by the talented Wendi Robinson. Her first time to issue a challenge for IE and it's a great one! Here is her challenge in her own words:

LOSS... One thing we as scrapbookers do is post about lots of happy things, wonderful moments, things that make us smile, and things we want to remember. Too many times we avoid scrapping the not so memorable, or sad times. Most of us have experienced a loss of some kind, whether is be a loved one- sometimes it's expected, sometimes the loss comes too soon and unexpected. Other times we lose a pet, a job, feel like we've failed at a situation, or loss of a friendship. This time, let's scrap those harder moments that come into our lives. Scrap about a LOSS of some kind.

For my page I scrapped a photo of my Grandad - this is probably from the 1940s when he was a young man. I remember him for Saturday mornings where he taught us how to watercolour, made the largest omelettes, and evenings when he looked after us and we had massive card games and watched the Waltons, in all that he was also a devout Christian and Sunday School teacher which he loved - so even though it is a loss to not have him about anymore he has had a massive impact on all of my family and our lives.

Jayne Morgan
Michelle Hernandes

Guest Designer: Scarlett Salamone

Monday, 15 September 2014

The Alps

Here are the MUST DO's: Must be at least 8x10 in size. We want this GIANT photo to take centre stage and tell the story in a big way.

So here is my take on the challenge:

On our holidays my husband took some gorgeous pictures of the Alps - we went up Aguille du Midi and you just get the most amazing views...so they were perfect for a giant photo. I had them printed 12" by 8" so I only had 2" on either side of the photo to fill...I went with some woodgrain paper by Simple Stories from their Good day Sunshine papers - I used some of their embellishments and also a globe die by sizzix, some Baker Ross air dry clay that I used in a Martha Stewart frame mould, then sequins and buttons - just little piles of embellishments in the corner. The alphas are by Glitz and American Crafts.

For more inspiration check out these wonderful ladies

Christa Uttley

Wendi Robinson

Lisa Moen

Lisa Speigel

Ann Jobes

Jayne Morgan

Guest Designer: Christine Meyer

Friday, 15 August 2014

Inspiration Elevator - Beach Love

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level; to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at our blog and catch us on Facebook .
We are thrilled to welcome back as a guest designer with our team, the uber creative and wonderfully artsy Misty Russell!
This month's challenge is issued by the amazing Jayne Morgan. Jayne mixes classic styling with fun and funky embellishments and artistic mixed media touches. Here is her challenge for us, in her own words:
Time(d) to Change
It's no secret amongst my crafty friends that my biggest hang up when scrapbooking is procrastination. Being a perfectionist can certainly benefit the end result, but quite often, we worry so much about the outcome that we forget to enjoy the process! On a couple of occasions when I've had to complete a tight deadline for DT calls or assignments, I've been forced to throw caution aside and complete a page within an hour. This for me in itself is a miracle, but the most surprising part was that I not only thoroughly enjoyed the carefree process, but the end results have been some of my most favourite pages. Here's lies the inspiration for this months challenge - I'd like you to gather your photo's, papers and a collection of supplies you think you may need, hibernate to your creative space and take 30 minutes to create whatever you like.........not a minute more! Contrary to what you may think, the pressure is off here. Chances are the final result will not be your best ever project as the time constraint is a little extreme (!), but it's a well known saying that creativity flourishes when we are willing to take risks! Enjoy the process.

So here is what I came up with.....

I got my papers together and the photos so I had a rough idea about the LO and that I had had a look at the paper combination (though I had hauled out lots more than this). I started with the white gesso and then soon realised that I needed to get my papers on the page to look at where I wanted them, so then had to dry my gesso! The base paper is by Websters and from Our Travels. This was actually quicker than I thought - though it was still a little damp - I then just layered - I started with a Kaisercraft card (they are beautiful) and then behind that I slotted some Websters Sweet Routine vellum - with gold polka dots, then over the tops some off cuts of a yellow chevon paper - again Websters I think Party Time and then the green polka dot from Sweet Routine. Over the top of his I added some musli, and then also slotted in some little Kaisercraft ruler stickers too. I then layered up some embellishments at the corner of the photo - I had to choose quickly - and added some flicks of cosmic shimmer mist, and some pearls and one of the lovely Prima bark stars (I think I went for some of my favourite things as there was so little time!) - then the title is a mix of Glitz (another go to favourite - I need another sheet of this alpha) and American Crafts thickers, and added the journalling underneath. I was just under 30mins - I didn't think I'd do it, but it was great fun!

Here's a complete list of this month's participating designers! We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month, then come on back and give the challenge a try yourself!

Guest designer: Misty Russell

Meantime, if you've wanted to participate as a guest designer with Inspiration Elevator, just contact team lead, Ann at ann jobes at bell dot net
Now it's your turn to get creating in 1/2 hour , and share your blog link at the IE blog. We would love to see what you were inspired to make!

Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Love You with the Inspiration Elevator

Welcome to another month of Inspiration Elevator!

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level; to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at our blog and catch us on Facebook and Instagram (soon!) too.

This month's challenge is issued by the innovative Michelle Hernandez. Michelle's style is about telling the story with a clean and simple, yet artsy approach, an awareness of current trends, and garnished with her use of chipboard and often neutral colours. Here is her challenge for us, in her own words:
The challenge for June 15th is- make a public scrapbook page. You are making a page to go up at work or to give away to a family member to put up in their space. In your blog post you will tell us how knowing this page isn't going in a book or in your home changed your style. Did you go all out and make something that is 3D? Did you suppress your love of a particular color or product? How do you feel about the page being public- outside your regular audience of scrapbook lovers who read your blog or open your books at home?

My page is a Fathers Day gift for my husband and we popped (me and the kids) in a frame for him to have up at work. I started with a prima brick mask and spritzed it and then layered up lots of my Crate Paper DIY shop papers, trying to pull out the colour of the kids clothes in the pictures. I also used one of my clay frames that I made using air dry clay and some Martha Stewart molds to highlight the sticker that says precious. I love the frames for that more masculine embellishment, rather than flowers!

Here's a complete list of this month's participating designers! We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month, then come on back and give the challenge a try yourself!

Michelle Hernandez

Jayne Morgan
Wendi Robinson

Katherine Sutton

Lisa Moen
Lisa Spiegel
Ann Jobes

We have a couple of regular artists taking a summer hiatus and look forward to the return of Joanne Burton and Christa Uttley in the fall.
Meantime, if you've wanted to participate as a guest designer with Inspiration Elevator, just contact team lead, Ann at ann jobes at bell dot net
Now it's your turn to get creating about art you share publicly, and share your blog link at the IE blog. We would love to see what you were inspired to make!

Thursday, 15 May 2014

Today

May is here! Hopefully it means more sunshine and warmer weather. More daylight hours means more time for me to be creative too!

We are beginning a new season of Inspiration Elevator, with some new designers, familiar faces and amazing challenges. Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves and each other to take our creating to the next level. To inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at our blog and catch us on Facebook and Instagram (soon!) too.

This month we welcome Shelby Dwyer to join us as a Guest Designer. Shelby is a very talented scrapbooker who is famous for her creations at Two Scrapbook Friends where she creates kits and other inspiration for the very busy store. We are so thrilled to have her joining us!

This months challenge is issued by the innovative Joanne Burton. Here is what she has to say in her own words:

"Currently. That is the topic for our next challenge. I want you to pick a day, grab your camera and take a few pictures of your surroundings. I want you to document what you are currently:
Eating
Reading
Loving
Wearing
Listening
Hoping

I would like you to include the date on your design, the complete list and at least one photo. Otherwise, make it your own. Have fun!"

I used a mix of manufacturers for my page - some Websters Our Travels and Bella Boulevard Family Forever - it was mostly some of the new papers that I bought at the ATDML retreat as well as some of the left over pieces from the classes I took - so a really good mix. I decided to split my page with the 2/3/1/3 rule and all my pictures and embellishments went on one side and then the title on the other. I love the sky background as it went really well with the thing that I was enjoying...which was a beautiful sunny day with my family. I think it is a lovely idea to document what is going on right now, and then look back at it in the years to come.

Here's a complete list of all our designers including some new faces! Please welcome Jayne Morgan and Wendi Robinson as regular creators. We sure are lucky to have them creating and challenging us this year.

Joanne Burton
Jayne Morgan
Jodi Wilton
Wendi Robinson
Lisa Spiegel
Ann Jobes

Shelby Dwyer - Guest Designer

We'd also like to say goodbye and a heartfelt thanks to those leaving us this month: Laurel Seabrook, Cathy Harper and Laura Whitaker. We have been inspired by your challenges and your designs.

Next on the hop is Lisa Spiegel

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

The Everyday Photo

I'm delighted to be joining in with the Inspiration Elevator each month, they have a theme that challenges us to make our scrapping even more personal so here is my first page for them, plus this month there are prizes on offer as it is their anniversary, so here are the challenge details which you can also find on the blog : Inspiration Elevator Blog.

This month we are celebrating our anniversary with a BLOG HOP! So be sure to hop from blog to blog below as some of our designers are offering prizes!

The Challenge:

It's a 2-part challenge since it's created by Christa and Ann!

The first part of the challenge is to use a selfie. We are all a part of social media to some extent, so selfies are everywhere. "Call it another trend in narcissism, or call it art, but the "selfie" has become a mainstay of our virtual identity."
Here are a couple articles for taking a good selfie, if this makes you uncomfortable (as it does for me - A)
http://www.bustle.com/articles/7142-how-to-take-a-selfie-pro-photographers-give-us-all-their-best-self-portrait-secrets
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-tuttlesinger/six-tips-on-how-to-rock-a_b_3750316.html

The second part of the challenge is this:
Every month the reveal preamble begins with:
"You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and extend ourselves."
So this month we'd like you to share something about scrapbooking. It could be why you scrapbook, what you love best, what you get out of it, your most amazing experience or, where you see your craft/hobby/art in the future.

This is one of my attempts at a selfie, and I love that Scrapping has grown to even the not so amazing photos and that you can add filters and all sorts to the pictures and just scrap everyday moments. My photo was from a recent holiday and a reminder to me to look upwards a little more and not spend my time being busy and worrying about all the busyness and how to make it work - to let that stuff go more and just enjoy!

I used lots of Websters Sweet Routine papers for this as well as starting my page with a spritz of blue glimmer mist to match the sky, I went for lots of layers and this is another Baker Ross doily in vibrant pink which went perfectly with the papers. I distressed and stitched the layers and added a little glassine bag for extra journalling. I made the banner on my sewing machine, just letting it run a few stitchs in-between each flag, and then I added a few chipboard clouds, a little bling and the title.

Remember to hop around to the other blogs and see what out designers have created and what prizes are up for grabs! (Be sure to read the instructions as each designer has her own requirements to win!)

Ann Jobes
Christa Uttley
Joanne Burton

I hope you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month, and when you do, please share it using the linky tool on our Inspiration Elevator blog and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook page. We'd LOVE to see what you made!

Also I have a give away for those of you in the UK, please just leave me a comment and the letters UK to enter and you can hop around everyone else too to see loads of inspiration.

Thursday, 15 November 2012

Note to Self with the Inspiration Elevator

I was delighted to be asked to join in with the wonderful ladies at the Inspiration Elevator this month, the purpose of the team is to take scrapbooking to the next level and challenge us to grow...so this months challenge is from Cathy Harper, and is as follows

"I  have been thinking about my challenge for months now. This is such an  amazing team, I am thrilled and humbled to be a part of IE...each of you  are amazing designers. I often wonder what I am doing here amongst you.

I  scrapbook for the joy of it, the creativity part of it, the love of  paper part of it....I hardly ever bare any of my feelings in any of my  work! I often tell my kids that they can make up there own stories to  their pages..I am that terrible about journaling. I guess it is a bit  superficial or a whole lot superficial.

So here is my challenge.

I want you to create a page about REGRET.

“No  regrets”…they say we should live our lives without regrets… if it were  only that easy, right? Most of us hold onto 1 or 2 (or a mountain full)  of things we feel regretful for in our lifetimes. A lost love, those  words you WISH you had said, the weight you wish you had lost….you know  them, right?

I encourage you to confront them….take those suckers on and scrap about them… or just one.

This  can be something superficial to something serious and painful… it’s up  to you how far you want to dig. I DO encourage you to use this as an  opportunity to really stretch yourself. Journaling is very powerful and  you might be surprised by how you feel afterward.

This is going to  be super tough for me (I may already regret it, lol )...as I am one who  lives with a mountain of regrets and know in my head that I should move  on, let it go. I am hoping this challenge will help me actually "let  go" of some of these things. Maybe by putting in down in 12x12 form,  creating it, seeing it and feeling it, that I can put some of it to  rest! It's worth a shot! Pictures, no pictures...that is all up to  you!"

This got me thinking a lot and I have hidden the journalling behind my photo...I don't live with lots of regrets (fortunately) - I make loads of mistakes, and regret things all the time but then I learn from them too - so they are valuable lessons to me and change me. So my take on regret is a page about something that I don't want to regret at the end of my days....which is to make sure that I cherish each moment. I still remember some words of a friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she spoke about the way that diagnosis makes you look at life and appreciate it and I think sometimes in the busyness of life I forget to appreciate it.

Gosh very philosophical for a Thursday morning - as it is a photo of me (for some reason I wear sunglasses in the photos of me that I like! there is probably a subconscious reason for that too :)) I got to use pink and some of the lovely Dear Lizzy papers, and some old sassafrass stickers and studio calico Heyday papers. There is lots of stitching and I let the threads hang down for a messy effect on this one. I started by dry brushing some white gesso on the background and then layering up my papers. I love the mason jars in the Dear Lizzy range and have the stamps too - and it seem fitting to have a jar of hearts, like a jar of cherished memories. Still thinking philosophically, the purpose of scrapping is to cherish memories which part of the reason I love it. I used some cosmo cricket word phrases too and then stapled on a scrunched up banner in the top right hand corner and added some flicks of glimmer mist too.

There is lots of inspiration from all the team so here are all the links