Challenge: Inspired By

Whether it is a song lyric or a quote from your favorite author, an idea from your favorite blogger or you want to create something inspired by your favorite artist - this week we want to see how you are inspired by someone else’s creativity.

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to try a Wendy Vecchi style piece, or you wish to try your hand at layering like Finnabair. Maybe your favorite book can serve as inspiration for a canvas piece or a line from a song inspires you to create a new art journal entry. If you have a pinterest account full of inspiration you’ve not used this would be a great time to pick something and give it a go.
 

Take the inspiration in front of you, and make it into something uniquely you - we can’t wait to see what you’ll try, and how you’ll inspire us.

Suzz thought Candy's Hot Air Balloon was fantastic which inspired her to create a magical metallic egg.

This project was percolating in my head since I saw how Candy had created her Hot Air Balloon. I had leftover plastic Easter Eggs sitting on my desk and decided to create a magical egg. The egg and Memory Box Butterfly Die are cut and covered from Ranger Metal Foil Sheets dry embossed with Tim Holtz Sizzix Patchwork Embossing Folder. I coated everything with combination of Stampendous Aged Aqua Embossing Powder and StaZon Jet Black Ink ink. My whimsical egg is all ready for a special treat inside for next year.

Ooh La La! Paris is the place to be...as per Anita.

If you are the creative type odds are that the city of Paris is a fountain of inspiration for you. Even looking at pictures of the city sights and architecture are inspiring enough, if you never get a chance to visit the City of Lights. I wish I could have seen it in the early 1900's!

I found some dollar store wooden frames, and after some crackle paint, a layer of Glossy Glue N Seal, and stamping and heat embossing with the fabulous images from Tim's Papillon, Paris to London, and Paris Memoir Stamp Sets from Stamper's Anonymous, along with Artistic Outpost's Paris Exposition, this frame was transformed. Joie de vivre!

Ashli pulled her inspiration this week from the work of one of her favorite sculptors.

Many years ago, I had the good opportunity to see an exhibition of Petah Coyne's wax sculptures. From the moment I walked into that gallery, I was beyond captivated by her use of wax! And, the thoughtful way in which she embeds birds within her pieces is mesmerizing. So, I thought I might try my hand at a little version of wax and winged things for my layout today! With a lovely piece of Webster's Pages Modern Romance paper as my base, I set about adding some colorful scraps followed by drips and drops of Beeswax. White the wax was still heated, I simply stuck my punched butterflies around. I played with layering and adding more wax until I had a soft and free look. Drips of wax and butterflies? Inspired!

Sandra Mouwen's inspiration for these art journal pages are two really talented ladies, Donna Downey and Dina Wakley.

Donna and Dina are such an inspiration to me. I love visiting their blogs and come up with new ideas. They both have their own style, but the messy art journal techniques is what we all have in common. I made the background with lots of paint and stencils of both ladies, like Donna's Turkish, Perforated Dots and Chevron and Dina's Paint Lids. I so like Dina's stamps, Loney Girl and Create with Abondon are two of my faves.

 

Anna-Karin got inspiration from an unusual place, by cleaning up her very messy desk:

When I was tidying up my desk, I found a little pile of vintage bookmarks (Victorian scraps) that I had as a child. They inspired me to create a suitcase to store them in, as well as a mini-book with photos and journaling about how we used to collect and trade bookmarks. I used Graphic 45 French Country and Secret Garden papers for both the outside and the inside of the suitcase. It was embellished with layered flowers die cut with the Tattered Flower Garland and 3-D Fringed Flower dies, a sticky-back canvas picket fence and wood veneer shapes.

Sarah was inspired by her husband's ever growing pile of used jeans and the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Challenge, and decided to create a fun and funky tote bag.

I don't know why my hubby likes to hold onto his dilapidated jeans, but this week I was glad the denim spoke to me. They were just crying out for a makeover. Sewing machine, here I come! I didn't have time to join in Tim's challenge but couldn't resist a flowery mood as I do love the Tattered Florals Die. It's so versatile. I used lots of scraps from my rag bag and also the great American Craft Fabric Swatches. So, after lots of snipping and stitching I was a bag richer! All finished off with a Word Band to remind me that creativity is often right under your nose.

This week Dan was inspired by a song from one of his favourite artistes.

I have been a huge fan of British singer/songwriter Kate Bush since I was a teenager and this piece is inspired by one of her most emotional songs, Moments of Pleasure. It's a song I have a strong personal connection to, and one which triggers many fond and bittersweet memories. I played the track on repeat while I worked and the piece just kind of made itself! Stamps used include the Americana Blueprint and Vintage Things Blueprint sets along with a panel from the Destinations paper stash and some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape.

Tracy Evans was inspired by two artists this week, Finnabair and Leanne at LuvLee Scrappin.

It's my Father-in-Law's 80th birthday this year and I took this opportunity to create a mixed media canvas adding many layers in the style of two of my favourite artists of the moment. This is one of those pieces that I simply got lost in, adding layer after layer of Claudine Hellmuth Gesso, Idea-ology mini gears, game pieces, adornments metal charms, light bulbs and lots more ephemera. This is one of those pieces that is so absorbing and it's knowing when to stop. Hope my Father-in-Law likes his quirky birthday canvas!

I (May) am inspired by Simon product designer and all-around fantastic woman Kelly Purkey.

Inspired doesn't begin to cover it when I'm talking about the cool products that Kelly Purkey is now designing exclusively for Simon Says Stamp! With Kelly's new sequins, April-May project kit, and travel stamps I was off and running with some instagram photos from our recent trip to paradise. Kelly is known for her love of great food and playful layouts and I like to think that she'd approve of this one. Good times, happy crafting, and a layout I'm happy to add to my scrapbook this week for the win!

 

Candy's inspiration for her easel calendar are the gorgeous Place In Time papers from Graphic 45's 8x8 paper pad.

I have loved the Graphic 45 Place In Time 8x8 paper pad from the minute I saw it.  But, I was never quite sure how to create a calendar that could be used for years and would do justice to those beautiful papers. An easel calender is the perfect solution to have a beautiful and useful piece of home decor.  Creating the basic easel calender out of chipboard and putting it together with my Cinch Book Binding Tool was a snap!  Scor Tape is the perfect adhesive to apply the papers and embellishments. Graphic 45 was so smart not to print dates on the calendar pages. They can easily be replaced year after year by printing extras and adding Dotto Dots Removable Adhesive to the back side of the calendar.  Various Stickles were used to really bring life and sparkle to those already gorgeous images.

Trace was inspired by a fun technique she found on the Faber-Castell blog.

I couldn't wait to play with my Faber-Castell Gelatos, but before I could, I needed to prep my board with Studio Gesso for the fun technique to work. My daughter had requested a turquoise board for her bedroom wall, so I pulled out all those Gelatos colours that I thought would work: sky blue, cotton candy, metallic violet, blueberry, and boysenberry. Then the fun began! I started at the top of the board and applied scribbles and then spritzed with water and let it drip down the board...I just kept doing this until the whole board was covered.I had to add a few more layers of paint with the help of my favorite Crafter's Workshop stencils: mini tri mosaic, mini chevron, and mini chicken wire. I really don't know how I could complete a project without these. Definitely fun and something I will do again!

 

For more inspiration click on our design team's blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects.

 

As always, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by Random Generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project that ties in (in any way!) with our theme and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday May 12th EST.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.