Inspiration Elevator September 2013

Welcome to our September Inspiration Elevator challenge. Each month our group is challenged 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. Be sure to check out our Inspiration Elevator Blog, to see all of our previous challenges.

Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Cathy Harper. Here is Cathy's challenge:

"I want to know what inspires you to create. As I was driving home the other day from my trip back to Black Hills, I saw a really cool billboard...clouds, the sun, and a few hearts. I immediately thought how great the design was and how I could transform it into a card or layout. (No, I didn't get a picture of it as it was the week of the annual Sturgis Bike Rally and no way was I pulling off the side of the interstate with all of that crazy traffic.) 

Even the other day, as I was walking through Target, I saw a couple of cute baby gift bags that had great design principle that I could use as inspiration to create with too! Then it hit me that this would be a great challenge for my IE teammates. We recently had Sue's challenge where we were inspired by another teammate and lifted their style... but I want to know what else inspires you besides other designers cards and layouts. Are you a Pinterest addict like me? And find great design ideas there or in a magazine with a brilliant ad!? 

Find something that inspires you, pin it or take a photo and create your work from there...you must include a photo of your inspiration and a link (if there is one) with your project for the challenge!"

I found Cathy's challenge really interesting! I think that if I could start over in life, I would love to have gone into interior design work.  I love looking at home and garden magazines, the Pottery Barn website, home décor ideas on Pinterest, etc.  And if I had lots of time and money, I am sure I would be spending it all on my home!

I find that I am very inspired when I am looking at home décor ideas and it is very easy to translate them into design elements for my scrapbook pages. Color, texture, use of space, clustering (i.e. of furniture, art on a wall, decorations on a mantle or shelf)… there are so many ideas that can be easily transferred to my pages!

Here are a couple of pieces of art that I just love and that inspired me in my creation this month:

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I adore birds and I love the color combination of teal and lime green.  So I was inspired to use these colors as well as the idea of birds on a line.  Also, in the first piece, I loved the look of the vertical paint on the background and it reminded me of dripping paint.  So I used that idea on my background.

I started by misting plain white cardstock with some Mister Huey's Color Mists in three different colors.  I then sprayed it with a bit of water and let the color run down the page. I LOVE how it turned out!

Then I cut birds on a line using my Silhouette Cameo.  I added them to the upper corner of my page and I was quite pleased with the look of it.

Next I pulled together some papers in colors that complimented the mists I used and I did lots of layering. I used bits of paper, vellum, some die-cuts, a photo of my niece and a chipboard frame.

My niece's name, Emily, was cut out of a small tag I created with my Silhouette and I tied it to the frame along with a gorgeous feather!  I also added a small bird paper clip to compliment the birds on the wire :)

I cut out some small hearts that I stitched to the page and I finished with some pretty sequins and candy dots!  Thank you Cathy for helping me to realize that my love of interior design and it's principles can actually be used when I create my scrapbook pages!  

I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the incredible Inspiration Elevator designers have created:

Cathy Harper

Lisa Spiegel
Laurel Seabrook

Joanne Burton

Jodi Wilton

Michelle Hernandez

Ann Jobes

Laura Whitaker

Sue Sykes
Lisa Moen
 Christa Uttley

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