Inspiration Elevator - April 2014

Welcome to our April 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.

This month we are celebrating our anniversary with a BLOG HOP! So be sure to hop from blog to blog as listed below.  Some of our designers are even offering prizes! We also welcome Katherine Sutton as a guest designer to Inspiration Elevator this month! Katharine has Guest Designed for us before and her fabulous style will inspire you to take your scrapbooking to a new level!

Now for our 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." 

Now for the second part. 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."

What a fun challenge, Christa and Ann - well except for the selfie!  I swear I am totally selfie challenged!!  I took quite a few selfies and finally managed to end up with one that I would be willing to share with the public.  Then I did some fancy editing on it to make it black and white with an overlay and some text.

For the second part of the challenge I decided to focus on one of the reasons that I scrapbook - I get to be creative with color, texture, patterns, and different mediums in any way that I choose. There are no rules, and you can’t say that about too many things in life.

To express this aspect of scrapbooking I decided to take some photos of my supplies.  Different patterned papers, ribbons, lace, buttons, washi tape and even my favorite scissors made their way onto my photos.

I thought it would be fun to make my pictures black and white except for the COLOR photo. I wanted to let that picture 'pop' with color!
 

I created my title using my Silhouette and a font called 'The Lost Paintings'.
 

I also added some hidden journaling behind my selfie. 

I scrapbook for many reasons. First and foremost to preserve memories – to combine the photos with the stories for future reference. To be able to look back someday and say, “This was us! This is what we did!” will be an awesome experience.

I also scrapbook because it is an artistic expression of ‘me’. I get to be creative with color, texture, patterns, and different mediums in any way that I choose. There are no rules and you can’t say that about too many things in life. But the bottom line – scrapbooking makes me happy. From the blank page to the finished layout – it just MAKES.ME.HAPPY! #whyIscrapbook

My finishing touches of ink splatters, sequins, wood veneers and sprinkles were added simply because I love them!

I am offering a special prize to celebrate our anniversary!  If you follow my blog and leave a comment on this post, I will add your name to a random draw for a $20.00 gift certificate to Two Scrapbook Friends!  It can be used in the store or towards an on-line purchase.  My draw will take place on April 30th and the winner will be posted here on my blog.

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 - you are here!

Lisa Moen

Lisa Spiegel

Michelle Hernandez

Guest Designer:  Katherine Sutton

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!