Challenge #313 - week of 7th January 2019

It's been a while. I know. But are you still here?

The end of November and all of December was a crazy time round here which started with birthdays, parties, more birthdays, Christmas celebrations and ended up with a round trip to the UK, followed by New Year and back to work.

But here we are at the beginning of January and it's the first Monday of the new year which seems like a good time to hit the restart button.

So where does this leave us? Hopefully, a new year of prompts and as always, a desire and will to continue, and a goal to be more organised in getting prompts scheduled ahead of time so that I have a better chance of posting each week.

Sounds like a plan.

And therefore I'd like you to be inspired by plans.

I'm hoping that this has sent your brain off in a million directions as it has mine but let's think about what you could bring to your page this week.

• new year plans - I have them and I'm sure you do too
• resolutions, goals, objectives - I know that resolutions are not so "on trend" these days but sometimes we still make them and even sometimes, keep them 
• plans in general - day, week, year or even life plans for yourself or any member of your family
• holiday plans - are you planning on travelling this year? You could even think about a whole mini-book about the planning process for a big trip.
• the planner trend - maybe you're new to this and would like to record your entry into the wonderful world of pretty planners. Mint green washi friend categorisation and all (in joke relating to an old Paperclipping April Fool's Joke here!
• planning style stash - you might have patterned paper that looks like pages from a calendar, pocket page cards where you can list your goals or embellies from a planning style collection. 

I've treated myself to a Webster's Pages planner this year - not really for the scheduling side of the planner, more for the to lists, noting down ideas, capturing inspiration and general moving forward side of things. Let's see if it helps my organisation!

I think you'll agree that there are a few different ways to take this new year prompt and as always, however you interpret it, we'd love to see! You can connect with us in our Facebook group here. Tag your entry with #WMXX so we know exactly which inspiration you've taken.

Now, let's get 2019 up and running!

Challenge #274 week of 8th January 2018

Happy new year and welcome to 2018!

It's been a while. Times were busy and other priorities took over. Let's see what the new year brings for us all.

Shall we jump right in and see if we can get a bit of inspiration going?

2017 was not the best year. I mean, I've had worse. But it wasn't one I'll look back on with a lot of joy. But in an effort to try and keep moving forward, I'd like us to look ahead.

I'd like you to be inspired by "when one door closes, another one opens". That seems to sum up the changing of the years, seasons and even each small problem that is overcome.

So where will you take this prompt? You could go literal in thinking about changing situations. Opportunities taken. Successfully overcoming difficulties. Unexpected turns in life. Adjusting life's course to take in new situations. Or how about thinking about doors - I seem to take a lot of photos of funky doors when I'm out exploring! This could be a time to capture some thoughts about the changing of one year into the next. Or goals for 2018. Or think about a quote or a slogan that keeps you going?

You can add your photos to our Facebook group here - we love it when you share so please don't be shy! Or tell us in the comments where to find you... :-)

Challenge #151 week of 29th December 2014

Welcome to what is the last prompt of 2014 and the first of 2015. I'm looking ahead with positive feelings and hopefulness. I have big plans for the year.

Sprucing up our little corner of the web and actually trying to complete the prompts I create each week are definitely on the list of plans for 2015 and I hope so much that you will join me along the way. This community makes me happy, even if we've gone a bit quiet over the last months and I get much joy from seeing the creations that you share. So without much ado, let me just say....

Pinterest source here

I try to change up the challenges as much as I can and not to repeat anything directly so when I looked back at the last prompts of the year or the first of the new for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (can it be so many already?!?), I saw ideas such as goodbyes, goals, confetti or turning points. So I tried to think about what January can mean to many of us and came up with... possibilities.

This week, I'd love you to be inspired by the possibilities of your life or of your own corner of the world. This can come in many forms and it can be interpreted in many different ways. Words of advice to a child about the future to come, the different paths your life has taken or the roads you want to take. It could be the possibilities a new course of action might take or something you'd like to achieve. It could even mean the different ways to use up something in your scrap stash! Take it along any meandering path you like.

To help us along the way, I was particularly inspired by the following finds on Pinterest...

Pinterest source here

Pinterest source here

Pinterest source here

I do hope you will join us in this turn of the year prompt. And it would be wonderful to see your creations over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#151.

I am looking forward to the year to come and hope to be more present in our little community. I appreciate every one of you and promise to be more active and involved - helped by my very wonderful friends Leslie and Lynnette. Who knows? Pam might even make a come-back guest appearance one day!

Have a very wonderful New Year's Eve and to coin a rather quaint German expression, "Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!" (literally translated: a good slide into the new year!")

#116 inspired by goals

Another two layouts made for LOAD214, using my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits but not specifically for the Whimsical Musings prompt until I took a second look and realised how they fit perfectly for "WM#116 ... be inspired by goals".

This layout was made for the LOAD prompt "Myth: You have to use the same process every time". I change up my process all the time so just looked back over the previous days to note that story first was the least used method. Then I went looking for photos, then product. I used my CKC November kit, Comfort (LO #4) for this and it was fun to use a patterned paper for the background rather than my usual white, cream or kraft. Of course, it's totally linked to goals! I don't know how I didn't notice it before.

My second share is a page to document a little for both of us. We are in this together and are motivating each other to keep going and keep positive. The file folder opens out to give us a lot of space to write down what we are thinking and maybe even to track those all important numbers. For this one, I used my CKC February kit, Tender (lo#7) and the LOAD prompt "Myth: There is only one right design". I took all the basic elements I had also used for the previous day's page and simply mixed them up into a new design. The kit is looking rather depleted now so in the last week of the month, it might be that I have to dip into my regular stash. I might need to prepare and make up a few page kits in advance, looking per page takes too long! Another layout focussing on joint goals which certainly fits the prompt.

It's good to be working through the list. I really need to look carefully and see what else is missing - I know there's a lot. It's nice to be given a general or even more specific direction to follow. Daily scrapping can be hard to come up with something new and innovative each day: kits, prompts and sketches can be a life saver!

We'd love to see your creations for any of our newer or older prompts. Check them all out on the page bar at the top and then share over in our Flickr gallery (here) with the relevant WM#XX tag so that we can identify and find it more easily!

Looking forward to seeing your shares.

Challenge #116 week of 30th December 2014

2013 is almost over and 2014 is just a few hours away which evokes different feelings for many of us.

I find it all a bit sad and depressing but I know that many of you see it as a very positive new beginning!

So I made myself a little reminder that the new year is nothing to feel bad about....

We've had a few different prompts around this time over the last few years - life's turning points; goodbyes; new beginnings.

So let's get a little more traditional and think about goals for the year.

I make a point not to have resolutions. Instead I have a mix - I set myself goals or objectives as well as choosing a word (á la Ali Edwards' One Little Word) and sometimes manage to make a layout for Pam's concept of "The List" of things to complete between one birthday and the next. How about you?

I hope you will share your goal inspired layout or project with us over at our Whimsical Musings Flickr gallery (here) with the tag WM#116.

Here's to a great 2014!

Challenge #73 week of 14th January 2013

How's your January going?

Are you the type who makes resolutions? Or maybe you have a word á la Ali Edwards "One Little Word"? Or maybe you're like me and make a more general list of goals for the year for the direction you'd like the year to take?

I've also become a fan of the list that Pam does each year for her birthday, even though I was rubbish at it last year and hardly managed anything!

So, I am working on my word and my list, and still have to tweak my aims for the year but I am certain that at least one or two items will be around organisation. And I think that many of us have high hopes for organisation at the beginning of the year.

In fact, today we have National Organise Your Home Day and National Clean Off Your Desk Day which always inspires me to get moving on all those tidy up tasks. I have a long way to go before I reach the level of organisation I'd like to achieve, so I'm constantly on the lookout for ideas of what to do and how to do it.

Now I know this seems a bit of a random challenge, but this week I want you to be challenged by organisation!

There's different ways you could translate this onto your page.

• You could use this prompt as a chance to reorganise a few of your stash items and then use them  to create a page. 
• You could make a page about the organisation process itself. 
• Maybe use the prompt to make a page about resolutions/goals that incorporate some element of organisation. 
• What about a page about this aspect of your character? I could talk about how disorganised I am!
• Or maybe you could make a page and pay attention to how you do it so that you can identify if your stash is organised in a way to support that process. (I'm constantly moving my stuff around as I realise that I reach for certain items in a certain way.)

I have my craft room right at the top of my list of things to organise within the next couple of weeks and there's a whole lot of inspiration out there for all aspects of organisation.

*sigh* love this look. Pinterest find.

Am really interested in this... 52 weeks to success? Pinterest find.

If only I could keep to this! Pinterest find.

And I recommend this book if you can get your hands on it - it really helped me identify how I scrap and therefore how I should organise my scrapbooking products though I need to go through the process again as I have changed a lot since then.