Inspired by All the Little Things: May 2017

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Inspired By #58 featuring Donna Mikasa

Hello Tracey here and welcome to Inspired By All The Little Things! This is a weekly inspiration challenge blog and each week we feature a wonderful designer who inspires us as an artist!

I am so excited to share that I have invited Donna Mikasa this week to be my guest!
I have known Donna for quite a while now she is among some of my early designer crushes. When it comes to ink blending and watercolouring her designs are always gorgeous!

Donna Mikasa

I asked Donna to share a bit about herself...

1. What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?

My blog is “three umbrellas” a literal English translation of my last name, which is Japanese. Mi = three, kasa = umbrella.

I started my blog back in July 2009 because I so wanted to be a part of a Hero Arts blog hop. Little did I know I’d still be blogging eight years later!

2. What is your style of card making?

I’m basically a clean and simple card maker, and I try to keep as much white space as I can, depending on the project.

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

That’s a tough one. There are so many designers who inspire, but I’d have to pick Jennifer McGuire because of all the techniques that she shares, and I always want to get inky after watching her videos. Also, back in 2008 she chose me to spend a Day on the Hero Arts blog with her—an honor that I cherish till today.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?

I love working with sketches as a starting point. I’ve been on the CAS(E) this Sketch design team for 4 years(!) and I often find myself using older sketches when I need a little jump start.

5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

I’m a pineapple lover. I can cut up a pineapple in a few minutes and polish it off in a couple of days.

Here is Donna's card using this week's inspiration!

The challenge designers have also created a card for this week's inspiration! These ladies just inspire me SO much!!! I hope you will play along with us this week! We would love to have you join us!

Kimberly Lackenbach

Kim's Cards & Crafts

LauraJane

After Hours Ink & Flowers

Laurel Seabrook (Guest Designer)

Seabrook Designs

Leigh Penner

To The Full

Marcie Sharp
Sharp Designs

Sheri Gilson

Paper Crafty's Creations

Silke Ledlow

My Life

Wanda Cullen

Cullen-ary Creations

...and of course one from me too.

Tracey McNeely

In My Creative Opinion

We hope you will play along with us!

The linky will close on Friday, June 2nd at 11:55am. (PST)

Some simple rules to keep things organized and enjoyable:

Please use the graphic for your post and link back to this post.
Any posts that are offensive will be removed.
Please comment on the submissions of others...we all love the support!
Yes you can combine with other challenges but NOT other inspiration challenges please.
Have fun and challenge yourself!

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspiring Stand Outs for Challenge #57

Oh my goodness, it's been a week filled with the prettiest colours & flowers! Thanks to everyone who played along with our challenge - it was wonderful to visit all of your blogs and see how you were inspired.

Thank you to Shari MacLaughlin for being our fabulous Guest Designer this week!

Shari & I have chosen our Inspiring Stand Outs, and it wasn't easy! - winners feel free to grab our badge and post it on your blog! For her choice, Shari has chosen:

#6 Hannelie!

"I love the CAS feel to Hannelie's card, and she has really captured the gorgeous spring colours of the photo."

Karen has chosen: #17 Anita in France!

"Just look at those bright tulips! Such gorgeous colours, and so beautifully painted. I love how Anita stamped them in the diagonal pattern down the panel."

Congratulations, ladies!

We will have a brand new challenge up for you in an hour - hope you can join us!

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Inspired By #57 with Shari MacLaughlin

Hello and welcome to Inspired By All The Little Things! This is a weekly inspiration challenge blog and each week we feature a wonderful designer who inspires us as an artist!

For my Guest Designer this week, I have invited...

Shari MacLaughlin! A former teammate of mine, a gifted crafter, who can colour like nobody's business! We also share a love of my home town :o)

I asked Shari to share a bit about herself...

1. What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?

My blog name is Pickled Memories - when I started scrapbooking I was looking for a name that represented preserving memories, and pickling seemed to be a perfect match, so when it came time to start my blog, it was easy to just keep using the name. I started my blog back in 2010 as a way to learn more about using computers and as a means of therapy during a difficult divorce. Little did I know that my little self taught computer lessons would lead to me being on several design teams, and let me share my love of card making.

2. What is your style of card making?

I don't really have a style, as I can do simple one layer cards to the more layered look. I always choose my paper first and then color my image with matching colors. Coloring is usually fast and easy, but then the hard part starts - the actual design of the card. I can spend hours just getting the perfect look!!

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

Wow, that's a tough question as I don't really follow any one designer. Everyone is so unique and choosing just one would be difficult.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?

I love searching pinterest, and I also follow several different stamp companies and facebook groups on line. So many people design differently, so I guess I take inspiration from them all and then create what I love!!

5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

I studied photography at the Alberta College of Art after high school, and my love of colors have inspired me throughout my life. I love painting murals in rooms, staging homes, and people tell me that I have a natural ability to make a home seem just right. I think this love of design has helped me in my card and scrapbooking layouts. When reading or watching tv I notice the little details that most people would not even see, and then translate that into my own designs. I also adore working with children, which is why I am now loving the two newest additions to my life - my grandsons Eli and Reuben!!

Here is Shari's card using this week's inspiration!

The challenge designers have also created a card for this week's inspiration! I hope you will play along with us this week! We would love to have you join us!

Kimberly Lackenbach

Kim's Cards & Crafts

LauraJane

After Hours Ink & Flowers

Laurel Seabrook (Guest Designer)

Seabrook Designs

Leigh Penner

To The Full

Marcie Sharp
Sharp Designs

Sheri Gilson

Paper Crafty's Creations

Silke Ledlow

My Life

Wanda Cullen

Cullen-ary Creations

And one from me - Karen Day

Karen's Creations

We hope you will play along with us!

The linky will close on Friday, May 26th at 11:55am. (PST)

Some simple rules to keep things organized and enjoyable:

Please use the graphic for your post and link back to this post.
Any posts that are offensive will be removed.
Please comment on the submissions of others...we all love the support!
Yes you can combine with other challenges but NOT other inspiration challenges please.
Have fun and challenge yourself!

Inspiring Stand Outs for Challenge #56

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired by Challenge #56. We loved seeing how you were inspired in all of your creative projects. These are the submissions that have earned a special Inspiring Stand Out this week. Please go ahead and display the badge on your blog.

A special thank you to Michele Henderson for being our Creative Guest this week!

Both Michele and I have chosen our stand outs!

Michele's Choice:

Cindy Major

All of the cards this week are so colorful and cheerful! It was hard to pick a favorite, but I went with #6, by Cindy Major. I loved how sweet the little French boy on the bicycle looked, and it captured the feeling of traveling to someplace wonderful and seeing something delightful, like the inspiration photo. Beautiful look, Cindy!

Karren's Choice:

Amy Rohl

Amy's crisp and clean card really stood out to me. The colors are bright and cheerful and the basket of flowers are a fabulous touch.

Congratulations ladies and thank you to everyone who played along with us this week! We will be back in one hour with a brand new challenge!

The next challenge goes live at 5:00 am PST.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Inspired By #56 featuring Michele Henderson

Hello, it's Karren here! Welcome to Inspired By All The Little Things! This is a weekly inspiration challenge blog and each week we feature a wonderful designer who inspires us as an artist!

This week I have invited...

Michele Henderson of Crimson Owl Creations

I asked Michele to share a bit about herself...

1. What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?

My blog is called Crimson Owl Creations, after the colors of my alma mater, the University of Alabama, and my love for owls, long before they were so trendy. I started it in February 2012 after receiving the good news that I had been accepted to my very first design team! The very next day I said, “Okay, let’s figure out how to make a blog.” It’s been an amazing journey of discovery in every way!

2. What is your style of card making?

I love to say that I am a paper artist, because I love creating with paper, and I love everything about it. I try to create cards that feature a lot of color and dimension. I love clean, layered looks, even in complicated scenes and multiple layers of die cuts. I will often use a number of dies to create dimensional flowers, trees, birds, and so on, then place them in really crisp, clean backgrounds to show off the detail and make the image pop. I also like watercolor and copic cards too, and have recently been adding beautiful floral stamps to my collection.

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

There are so many amazing designers that I absolutely love for different reasons: watercolor, copic work, mixed media, and all my friends from design teams who work with the same items that I do. I am most inspired by the designers who influence my work, who make me want to pick up the same tools they’re using and try that technique, and that changes all the time. Right now, designers like Michele Ferguson, Jeanne Jachna, and Susan Liles, who all create beautiful cards with die cuts are influential to me. Designer Tae Eun Yoo’s beautiful watercolor cards are inspiring me to add watercolor in a new way. Of course, the biggest artistic influence in my work has always been American artist Charley Harper.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?

As a card maker, I am most inspired by nature; it’s all around me. I also get great inspiration from photos with strong, colorful focal points, like a bicycle with a basket of flowers, or a jar of colored pencils or something. I am least inspired by photos of living rooms and bedrooms.

5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

I don't think people know how much I have traveled in my lifetime. I now live just outside Tuscaloosa, AL, out in horse ranch country, so a lot of people think I’m one of those home loving country gals. They are always surprised to find out I have lived in places like Shanghai, China, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, where I worked organizing people around environmental issues and campaigns my entire life. My hubby and I are also child free, so now we both travel the world together as a couple, with our own definition of family.

Here is Michele's card using this week's inspiration!

The challenge designers have also created a card for this week's inspiration! These ladies just inspire me SO much!!! I hope you will play along with us this week! We would love to have you join us!

Kimberly Lackenbach

Kim's Cards & Crafts

LauraJane

After Hours Ink & Flowers

Laurel Seabrook (Guest Designer)

Seabrook Designs

Leigh Penner

To The Full

Marcie Sharp
Sharp Designs

Sheri Gilson

Paper Crafty's Creations

Silke Ledlow

My Life

Taking a Break

Wanda Cullen

Cullen-ary Creations

And a card from me, Karren Johnson

We hope you will play along with us!

The linky will close on Friday, 19 May at 11:55am. (PST)

Some simple rules to keep things organized and enjoyable:

Please use the graphic for your post and link back to this post.
Any posts that are offensive will be removed.
Please comment on the submissions of others...we all love the support!
Yes you can combine with other challenges but NOT other inspiration challenges please.
Have fun and challenge yourself!

Inspiring Stand-Outs for Challenge #55

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired by Challenge #55!
We loved seeing how you were inspired in all of your creative projects.