Inspiration Elevator - August 2012

You may recall from last month's challenge 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 grow.

This month our challenger is the very talented Lisa Moen. Lisa, like most of us, doesn't always take the "perfect" photos. In fact, sometimes, the imperfect is all you have to tell your story. This month Lisa challenged us to use those imperfect photos to tell a story. Here's what she had to say about her challenge:

"I was digging through some old 1980's photos the other day and realized how bad some of the pictures were. Cameras have come a LONG way since then!

I have lots of pictures I haven't scrapped because they were/are poor quality pictures and I am sure you have pictures like that too. So let's dig out those blurry, bad pictures and tell the story behind them! My challenge to you this month is to use a bad photo and journal about it."

This was a tough challenge for me! I will often delete my bad or blurry photos, assuming that I will never use them. But I did find a special photo of Mr. B and myself from a few years ago. We were visiting Mackinaw City, Michigan and before we left for the day, we stopped by the lake shore to take a photo. The sun was setting and the fog was rolling in and it was almost impossible to get a good picture. It was such a wonderful day though, that I decided to keep the picture and now I am glad that I did!

Here is my layout:

I had fun creating a multi-layered background, using a variety of papers. I also added an accordion heart that I created using this tutorial from Jayne Morgan.

A paper doily seemed to work well with the feel of the papers and photo...

...and some washi tape was the perfect addition to my layered design.

A fun little cluster along the top border gave the page balance and there you have it! A page with a blurry photo that I actually like!

Here's the list of my IE friends, who have been working all month to create gorgeous and inspiring designs. I do hope you'll pop by each of their blogs to see what they have created and perhaps take a moment to leave a comment for them.

Ann Jobes

Audrey Yeager

Cathy Harper

Christa Uttley

Joanne Burton

Laura Whitaker

Laurel Seabrook

Lisa Moen

Lisa Spiegel

Sue Sykes

If you would like to take on this month's challenge, please do so! Just leave a link in the comment section below and I will be sure to take a look :)