Saturday, September 24, 2016

Inspired By All the Little Things featuring Bonnie Sharp

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!

Tracey here as your hostess this week with this gorgeous autumn inspiration. Are the leaves starting to turn where you are? They are starting to here, at eye level it is still summer but if you look up to the tops of the 200' trees on my lot they are turning yellow and orange and red, it's coming... 



This week I have invited Bonnie Sharp to be my guest designer!



I asked Bonnie 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 Lucky Clucker which I began in September 2007. 
 

I had been making cards all summer and when I started searching (figuring out!) the web and seeing so many awesome card making blogs - well I jumped in!

2. What is your style of card making?

 I get asked this a lot and I have yet to find out - I really have no clue about my style.  I try a lot of things- except really messy stuff - not into that at all.

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

Oh boy - there are so many - but Michele Boyer with her copic colouring is one of the first I really started following, and then of course Nicole Heady (I was one of the first to purchase from Papertrey Ink-honestly I should have stock in that company haha!)

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

I am definitely inspired by photos - give me a great floral picture and I'm on it like bees on honey!
  
5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

Oh wow, I have shared most everything on my blog - uhm....I guess I could tell you that I am pretty much a keep to myself kind of person.  If I put myself out there, I cringe inwardly for days. That is probably why a blog is so great - I can get out of my comfort zone - comfortably- by doing something I love!
 

Thank you Bonnie for sharing with us today.  Here is Bonnie's gorgeous 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-http://kimcreate.blogspot.ca/






Leigh Penner - www.leighpenner.blogspot.com  










...and one from me Tracey McNeely- http://inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.com

 tracey_IB#25

We hope you will play along with us!


The linky will close on Thursday, September 29th at 11:55pm. (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 #24

Thank you to everyone who played along with our coffee-themed challenge this week - your creations were so inspiring, and I adored all of the aqua/greyish tones in your creations!  Allie & I have each chosen our Inspiring Stand-outs for this week, winners are welcome to post our badge on their blog:

For her Stand-out, Allie has chosen: #2 Tenia Nelson!

"I really admire the simplicity of Tenia's design. Her mixed media cup offers a beautiful pop of aqua and her subtle embellishments add to the effectiveness of her design."

And for my Stand-out, I've chosen: #13 EK Gorman!
 "The muted colours with the pop of turquoise, the textured woodgrain background and the 'faded-newsprint' type of distressing really reflected the inspiration photo for me!"

Congratulations, ladies!  And a huge thank-you to Allie Kostiuk for being a wonderful Guest Designer this week - you're a big inspiration to me & my crafting :o)  Come back in another hour, and Tracey will have a brand new challenge to share with us!

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Inspired By All The Little Things featuring Allison Kostuik

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! *We are also welcoming the talented Wanda Cullen to our design team this week! 

 Hi everyone! I'm Wanda Cullen and am so excited to join the Inspired by team as a challenge designer!  I live in Stuarts Draft in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in VA and my spare time passion is cardmaking when I'm not working full-time as a vocational rehabilitation RN.  My style is typically clean and layered with lots of color and florals.  I'm also a pun lover as evidenced by my blog name: Cullen-ary Creations.  I look forward to inspiring others to play along with this fun challenge blog!

 Scroll down to see what she & the rest of the design team have to share with us!

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

(this is a photo of Allie and I cardmaking this summer!)
I asked Allie to share a bit about herself...

1. What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?
All You Need is Love in the Kootenays. I started my blog in 2013 to showcase my cards and kitchen creations. It was tricky coming up with a blog name and I was working on my computer beside a sign in my home that said, “All You Need is Love”. I do love that song by the Beatles so I decided to incorporate it into the blog name with the area in which I live.

2. What is your style of card making?
I try to stay fairly clean and simple, but enjoy trying out different techniques.

3. Who inspires you as a designer?
My Auntie Karen! I love her CAS designs and talented colouring and watercolour painting.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?
I often like to work with a sketch, but I also enjoy using an inspiration photo. Tic-tac-toe challenges can be lots of fun, too!
  
5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?
I am currently taking my Master’s of Educational Technology. It can get busy teaching full time and doing my schooling on the side, but I try my best to find some crafting time too :)

Here is Allie'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-http://kimcreate.blogspot.ca/




Leigh Penner - www.leighpenner.blogspot.com  









And here are a couple of cards from me:


We hope you will play along with us!

The linky will close on Thursday, September 22nd at 11:55pm. (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 #23

Weekly Stand Outs

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired by Challenge #23.  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 Karen Davis for being our Creative Guest this week! 



Both Karen and I have chosen our stand outs!

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!


Karen's Pick is:  Silke Ledlow #8

I chose Silke's card  from the amazing line up this week. It was the gorgeous layers and colours that caught my eye.

Karren's Pick is:  Estelle #4


Estelle created two beautiful cards for this challenge and I struggled to pick my favorite, but I went with this one.  I just love the die-cuts used and the strip of gold.

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, September 10, 2016

Inspired By All The Little Things Featuring Karen Davis

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!


Hi, my name is Karren Johnson and I am thrilled to join the Inspired By team as a Challenge Creator.  I live in Christchurch, New Zealand and have been stamping for many, many years.  My style has evolved over those years and I am now predominantly a CAS stamper.  I like clean lines and white space and very rarely use patterned paper.  When looking at all the fabulous cards on the many blogs I follow, I'm firstly drawn to the way color is used, then to the layout and images.  Now onto the challenge:


This week I have invited Karen Davis to be my guest.  I first "met" Karen when we were both on the Merry Monday Design Team.  Karen then took a break from blogging and has just recently rejoined the card-making blog world and I'm so delighted to see her gorgeous work again.




I asked Karen 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 Karen Creates Cards. I started the blog in 2013 because I wanted to join the wonderful card making community :-)  I recently had a long break from card making and have come back to find an explosion of gorgeousness!

2. What is your style of card making?

My style of card making is anything with layers, nearly always with flowers and leaves, using quite big, bold pieces. 

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

I would find it impossible to choose one, there is so much talent out there. I am very inspired by card makers who have a distinctive, original style.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?
I most love working from a great 'Still-life' inspiration image, especially one that includes flowers and/or cupcakes :)
I am also inspired by other card makers, usually particular elements rather than the whole card.

At the moment I am looking at creatively coloured and laid out sentiments. I mostly do black and white but would like to be more adventurous.
  
5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

I live in the city of Auckland which is in the North Island of New Zealand. To give you an idea of the size of NZ, it is 990 miles long and 280 miles at its widest point. Population is about 4.5 million. 

Here is Karen'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-http://kimcreate.blogspot.ca/





Leigh Penner - www.leighpenner.blogspot.com  





and a card from me



We hope you will play along with us!


The linky will close on Thursday, 15 September at 11:55pm. (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 for Inspired by #22

Thank you all so much for joining us this week for the Inspired by Challenge #22.  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 Vicki Burdick for being our Creative Guest this week! 


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!




Vicki's pick is:  Wanda Cullen #3



I love Wanda's card, the background is gorgeous and makes the sunflowers really pop. The polka dot DSP brings it all together.  

Lesley's Pick is: Shawna Standish


Shawna's card is so inspiring! I love that she tried to recreate the challenge graphic and the amazing painting that she did.


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

Smiles,
Lesley

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Inspired by Vicki Burdick {Sunflowers}

Hello and welcome back to Inspired By All The Little Things! We hope you have enjoyed a restful summer with your families! This is a weekly inspiration challenge blog and each week we feature a wonderful designer who inspires us as an artist!

For this week, I wanted to use inspiration that was bright and bold! I hope you are inspired to play along with us!



This week I have invited the talented Vicki Burdick to be our guest!



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

The name of my blog is "It's a Stamp Thing" link is www.tsastampthing-vicki.blogspot.com I started blogging in late 2007 because I wanted a way to share my love of stamping.

2. What is your style of card making?

This is a tough question for me, I have a hard time defining my style, I like clean lines and layers. I love any and all kinds of flower stamps and I especially love to create flowery cards. I do love whimsical and cute as well.

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

So many people inspire me, I love Jodi Collins, she has a style I adore. Connie Collins is a great source of inspiration, she constantly blows me away. If I could be either one of these ladies when I grow up I would be thrilled!!!

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

 I love a good sketch challenge, I always look for those when I need a starting point.


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

I am a Halloween fanatic, I love all things Halloweeny, Well, the fun side of it anyway, I steer clear of the dark spooky stuff!

And here is Vicki's stunning card based on the 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-http://kimcreate.blogspot.ca/




Leigh Penner - www.leighpenner.blogspot.com  




Lesley Croghan-http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.ca/



We hope you will play along with us!


The linky will close on Friday, September 9th at Noon. (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!

To link up your card, please CLICK HERE.