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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Inspiring Standouts Challenge #76

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired By All the Little Things 
challenge #76!  We loved seeing how you were inspired in all of your creative projects!

I would like to thank Joanne James for being our Creative Guest this week!

Joanne and I have chosen the submissions we feel have earned
a special Inspiring Stand Out badge this week!
Joanne's choice:

#2 Elizabeth Stewart
Elizabeth's sparkly shoes make me want to put on my party dress and go out and start celebrating! They balance the falling confetti perfectly and that fabulous die cut unifies the elements and sums up the inspiration photo for me. I love it!


My choice: 

#4 Vicki Finger
Vicki's bold graphic card matched the inspiration photo perfectly.  The little pops of gold add to the elegance of the design and perfectly embody the spirit of "Happy New Year"!

Congratulations, Elizabeth and Vicki!

Please grab our badge to display on your blog!
Thank you again to everyone who played along with us this week! 
All the entries were lovely!
We will take a short break to enjoy the holidays with family and friends and will return  with a brand new challenge at 5:00 AM PST on January 6, 2018.
Wishing you peace and happiness this holiday season from all of us at Inspired By...

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Inspired by All the Little Things #76 featuring Joanne James

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!



This week I have invited my friend and very talented designer, 
Joanne James of The Crafty Owl!


I asked Joanne 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 ‘The Crafty Owl’ and I started it at the start of January 2013, a few months after I took up papercrafting. I became a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and I wanted to be able to share my creations and connect with other people who shared my new-found passion. I chose the name because the first papercrafting tool I ever bought was an owl punch and I loved it!

2. What is your style of card making?
My style tends to be clean and layered and I love to use diecuts in interesting ways. I also love to colour, especially with markers. I am definitely not a messy crafter though and tend to avoid mixed media, although I do love to have a go at a good collage card every now and then.


3. Who inspires you as a designer?
I am an avid blog reader and am inspired by lots of the designers that I follow. Some of my favourites include Jennifer McGuire, Brian King and Hannelie Bester, all of whom have similar styles to mine but I also Birgit’s fabulous watercolours too.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?
I love a good sketch and will often use one as a starting point for a card. I take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere – magazines, nature and of course Pinterest!
  
5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?
I am a keen stamp collector, having inherited a collection that includes every first day issue of British stamps that has been produced during the reign of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.  I also have four chickens, whose daily supply of eggs feeds another of my passions: baking!
  
Here is Joanne's festive card using this week's photo 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

LauraJane 


Leigh Penner 

Marcie Sharp
 Sharp Designs

Sheri Gilson

Silke Ledlow
 off this week

Wanda Cullen

We hope you will play along with us!

The linky will close on Friday, December 15th 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 Standouts Challenge #75

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired By All the Little Things 
challenge #75!  We loved seeing how you were inspired in all of your creative projects!

I would like to thank Bobby Hagen for being our Creative Guest this week!
Bobby and I have chosen the submissions we feel have earned
a special Inspiring Stand Out badge this week!
***
Bobby's choice:
The wonderful die cut skate with the blue glitter blade, the soft blue inking on the wood background, and stars all stole my heart.  All the elements of the photo were incorporated into Marcia's lovely clean and simple card. 

***
My choice: 
Cat's card is winter bliss with the beautiful white skates against that robin's egg blue! I especially liked how Cat brought out the paneled background of the inspiration photo!

Congratulations, Marcia and Cat!

Please go ahead and display the badge on your blog!
Thank you again to everyone who played along with us this week! 
All the entries were lovely!
We will be back in one hour with a brand new challenge at 5:00 AM PST.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Inspired By All the Little Things #75 Featuring Bobby Hagen

Hello, Darnell here to welcome you to Inspired By All The Little Things!

This is a weekly inspiration challenge blog and each week we feature a photo
inspiration and a wonderful designer who inspires us as an artist!

Here is this week's photo inspiration for you!
So many ways you can be inspired by this amazing photograph!!

***
This week I have invited my talented friend Bobby Hagen
of Bits & Pieces to be our featured designer.
I asked Bobby to share a bit about herself ...

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

The name of my blog is Bits & PiecesBits & Pieces Design Studio was the name I had been using when I was making mosaics, quilts and cards, all of which are made up of bits and pieces of china, fabric, and paper respectively.  I just carried it over to my blog that I started in 2011 for probably the same reason everyone else did - to share my cards and enter challenges.

2. What is your style of card making?

That's a good question.  My style has changed dramatically in the last 6 1/2 years from many layers and distressing to almost too clean and simple sometimes.  I'm still evolving but I do find that I love to watercolor and try new techniques.

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

Oh my.  If I named names, I'd be afraid I'd leave someone out.  Let's just say I'm inspired by those who do beautiful watercoloring, those who can make wonderful cards with mainly die cuts, those who do gorgeous background techniques, and those who can handle any medium (pencils, Zigs, watercolors, Copics).  
If you see yourself in this group, you've inspired me.

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

See question number 3. 😊 What other designers have done can be a big influence on what I make, but I'm also inspired by nature, art, and textiles.  I usually get too literal with photo challenges, but I'm trying to break that habit.
  
5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

I play the hammered dulcimer.  Not well, mind you, especially since I put it up for two years and now I'm having to learn the music all over again.  I'm trying to set aside time each day for practice but something else keeps getting in the way.  
Could it be card making? 

Here is Bobby's beautiful card using this week's inspiration!
The challenge designers have also created cards for this week's inspiration! 
These ladies just inspire me SO much!!! 

Kimberly Lackenbach

LauraJane 

Leigh Penner 

Marcie Sharp
 Sharp Designs

Sheri Gilson

Wanda Cullen

and one from me:
We hope you will play along with us this week!

The linky will close on Friday, December 8, 2017, at 11:55 a.m. (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 Challenge #74

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired by Challenge #74.  We loved seeing how you were inspired in all of your creative projects. 
Congratulations to the winners!



These are the submissions that have earned a special Inspiring Stand Out badge this week. Please go ahead and display the badge on your blog!


Thank you so much to Maria Fisher for being my creative guest this past week!



Maria's Choice:



I'm currently crushing on Flora and Fauna stamps so Jenny had me right outta the gate! But seriously, her CAS design with all that wonderful white space caught my eye. Her design exemplifies outside-the-box thinking. And I love the double heat embossing! If you haven't watched her video for this card you should. 




Tracey's Choice:


#19 - Carol H


I was totally enamored by Carol's overall composition. The gorgeous embossed snowflake background and grey woodgrain star added so much texture and then topped off with the gold  scripty sentiment and pretty green foliage to set the whole design off!


Congrautlations to our winners!

Challenge #75 goes live in one  hour on the Inspired By All the Little Things Blog!