Quotes on Creativity...Wisdom from Kermit the Frog

Here are a couple quotes on creativity that I found recently that I really like:

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.”
William Plomer

In scrapbooking, aren't we always searching for ways to discover new ways to express our creativity, developing new products or find creative new uses for old ones?

“When you’re trying to stay creative, too many rules can drive you loopy. Improvise. Let loose! Because, after all, you can’t amaze the world until you first surprise yourself.”
Kermit the Frog

What scrapbooking 'rules' have you broken lately with results you love?

SSFS #27 - Request Some Free Inspiration Delivered Directly to Your Mailbox - Catologs

Catalogs are a great sourse for scrapbooking inspiration. Not only does perusing the latest in mail order shopping help you to discover the latest trends in color, texture and design, but you can also garner ideas for your layouts based on the way they arrange their products on the page...after all, isn't their overall objective to make the presentation pleasing to the eye (in order to encourage us to buy)? We may not be trying to make anyone buy anything through our scrapbook layouts, but we are generally trying to 'lead' the eye to our focal point.

Best of all, there are literally thousands out there that you request for FREE! (Hopefully, the value of this free scrapbooking inspiration will make up for the $$ you might be spending when you see some of the great products.

Here are five of my favorite catalogs:

#1 - The Land of Nod

The Land of Nod is a leading catalog, web and retail store company, based in Northbrook, Illinois, specializing in children's furniture, bedding and accessories. The company designs the majority of their items themselves. Their catalog cover designs are always unique and inspiring and the artwork itself can actually be ordered as a print. I've often been tempted to work to cover design in a layout in some way.

#2 - Anthropologie

Anthropologie was founded in 1992 by a small group of people with a love for making things that inspire the imagination. They are known not only for their wonderful clothing, jewelry, and home products, but also for their creativity in their catalog and web design.

#3 - Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn began in 1949 as a single store in Lower Manhattan and is founded on the idea that home furnishings should be exceptional in comfort, style and quality. They also offer catalogs called Pottery Barn Kids (furnishings targeted towards children) and PBteen (furnishings targeted toward teens). These are obviously wonderful for finding the latest in color combinations, etc. for your child and teen layouts.

#4 - The Company Store

The Company Store started out as The La Crosse Garment Company in 1911. The products are based on the fine workmanship of the Scandinavian ancestros that settled in western Wisconsin in the 1800's. It began with warm down comforters and featherbeds they knew so well in the "old country" and expanded from there. They also have a Company Kids catalog with products especially for children.

#5 - Crate&Barrel;Crate&Barrel was opened by a husband and wife team in 1962 and in just a little over 40 years has grown to 7,000 associatiats and 150 stores. They attribute their success to the focus on the "3 P's" - People, Product and Presentation. By people, they are attune to both their employees/associates as well as their customers. By product, they are committed to innovative, high-quality design. By Presentation, they strive to present their products to help your eye focus on shape, form, color and function.

YOUR CHALLANGE TODAY:
*Visit one of the above (or all of them if you wish), sign up for their free catalog and wait for some free inspiration delivered directly to you mailbox...in about 1-6 weeks. :-)

*Do you know of other free catalogs that have served as inspiration to you? Please share them in the comments here.

Rockin' Girl Blogger

I was tagged by Shaunte. She's a Rockin' Girl Blogger and I guess now I am too! :-)

1. Your entire family has gone away for the weekend. The house is all yours. What are the first three things you do? Hmmm...let's see...I certainly wouldn't waste it cleaning, or doing laundry and anything 'productive' like that. I'd have to say I would: #1 - Sleep in; #2 - Do some scrapping; #3 - Do some more scrappin' (of course!)

2. Your bankbook is looking healthy, you have a four-day weekend ahead. What sounds good? First, I would wonder if I made a mistake when I balanced my checkbook! Then, I'd probably head online to do some scrapbook supply shopping (if only I looked as cute as this gal while doing it!) and take Kaitlin to the movies or something that we don't ordinarily do.

3. What do you do while waiting in the doctors office? Luckily, I've never had to spend much time there - either for myself or Kaitlin - but I usually just thumb through some magazines...and discretely keep my distance from the other people that look REALLY sick.

4. Would you rather spend an afternoon alone in a book store, a mall, napping in the hammock? A bookstore. I not much of a shopper (unless you're talking about online scrapbook supply shopping, that is) and I've never even been in a hammock. I'd probably fall out and hurt myself!

5. You have an unexpected 48 hour stay in the hospital. You're coherent and not in pain. How do you spend the time? Reading? Channel surfing? Laptop surfing? Calling your friends to come visit? Ringing for a nurse every five minutes? Sleeping? Enjoy the peace and quiet first of all. Then, I'd probably do a little reading, channel surfing, internet surfing (updating blog, scrapbook supply shopping...do you see any trends here?), and a little extra sleep never hurt anybody.

6. You have a nine hour trans-continental flight. How do you pass the time? Reading a hot novel? Watching the in-flight movies? Become best friends with the stranger seated next to you? Take three valium and sleep the time away? Read, watch, sleep...probably in that order. As for the stranger, I guess it would entirely depend on how 'strange' they happened to be. I had a bad experience when I was about ten and had to take about a 10 hour bus trip by myself...I don't like to talk to strangers...

7. You have a seven hour layover in Chicago O'Hara airport. Do you wear down your cellphone battery calling friends? Read a book? People watch? Shop every store in the airport? Take a taxi and see the city? People watch...for awhile. I've never been to Chicago, so I'd probably do a little exploring and spend time taking some pictures.

8. What do you do when you're bored stiff? I don't know...I'm usually too busy to get bored.

9. Work first, play later? OR play while you can, the work will still be there when you get home? Work first, play later. The work is what supports the play.

10. List three times that you are easily bored. Long car rides. Watching any kind of sports. (Although, I have a strange love for sports movies...can't explain it.) Anytime I'm trying to watch TV when my husband has control of the remote - he's an incessant clicker. Just about the time I get interested in something, he changes the channel...EVERY TIME! That's when I usually leave and go do some online scrapbook supply shopping...heh...heh...

The 'tag' must go on. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. Copy and paste the 'Rockin' Girl Blogger' button, the questions (replacing my answers with yours of course) and go post! Please leave a link to your post here...I'd love to read your answers!! (Some of these would make a great jumping off point for a scrapbook page!)

Sunset on Lewis & Clark Lake

A few more photos from our evening trip to the beach the other night:

I do love this picture...think I will have to Photoshop out those buoys, though.

Evening at the Beach

Well, sort of...the other evening, Lynn, Kaitlin and I went down to what we call our 'beach' here in Yankton, SD to snap a few pictures. I'm sure the little bits of sandy areas we find here along the Missouri River aren't anything like the real thing. Hopefully someday I'll have the opportunity to make the true comparison by actually visiting an ocean side beach.

Regardless, it was a beautiful evening and I think I got a few good shots. Here are a few of my favorites:

This first one my sister actually shot as I was rescuing a little fish who had just 'beached' himself. Kaitlin was quite concerned for the little fellow.


Got some lovely shots at sunset...hopefully can get those posted tomorrow!

Me? A Memory Makers Master? One Can Dream...

So, I did it...I sent in my submission for the 2008 Memory Makers Masters Contest...one real layout following the theme of "I wish" and color copies of four of my other favorite recent layouts.

Even though I have been submitting my layouts to magazines for about a year now, this is the first time that I have every submitted my work for this type of competition. It was kind of a last-minute decision, too, but decided to just go for it and got my package postmarked on the last possible day.

Honestly, I can't say that I have too high of hopes for actually being chosen (although, Memory Makers Master Choosers, I would be extremely grateful and jumping-up-and-down, screaming-at-the-top-of-my lungs excited and would work very hard to inspire your readers to be worthy of such a huge honor) considering there will be only 10 Masters chosen and 10 runner-ups out of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of submissions they have received.

At the same time, I feel a certain level of gratification for just having put myself out there, so to speak. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am definitely proud of the layouts I submitted and hope that they like them, too. Sorry that I cannot share them here, but it is a requirement they be 'unseen'.

We won't have to wait to long to see who is chosen. According to MM, they will be announcing the winners on their website on August 22, 2007.

SSFS #26 - 10 Print Ads for Scrapbooking Inspiration

Last week, the Sunday Spur for Scrapbookers consisted of the inspirational qualities of business cards. This week, print advertising is taking the spotlight. Included here are 10 ads that I find inspiring - some on many levels - and hopefully you will find some inspiration in them as well.

Ad #1 - Songi - This ad has such a sleek, simple design. I love the position of the two photos and the line which 'grounds' the title and separates it from the 'journaling' (perfect for list style journaling).

Ad #2 - Imaz Wholesale Imports - Not only am I intrigued by the block design of this ad, I am also drawn to the colors...the deep red, browns, greens and harvest orange. A great combination for a fall layout. It also reminds me that detail photography can be quite dynamic. How about taking some close-ups of your favorite things and create a layout around them.

Ad #3 - Vision Wallcoverings - Not all photos must be 'perfect' in order to scrap them. How about a photo like this of yourself to use on a layout about how busy your life is? How about a photo like this of your child(ren) to use on a layout about how quickly they are growing up?

Ad #4 - Ireland - This layout inspires me with its design, colors and its shapes. The 'waves' cut into the photos would be perfect for a pool or beach layout.

Ad #5 - Duke Performances - This ad is perfect inspiration for the journalistic scrapper's out there...there is plenty of room to record your memories. I envision a layout where the photos at the top are those of you family or friends. The area at the bottom is perfect for recording your memories and/or unique details about each one.

Ad#6 - Betrothed - LOVE the layout of this ad. The circular cut-out at the top is the perfect contrast to the square photos. Also love the color combination here - pink, fuchsia, sage green.

Ad #7 - George Fox University - Have a dynamic photo? Enlarge it so that it spans the width (or length) of your layout like it does in this ad. I also love the title treatment in this ad...the large title that overlaps the photos. As far as design, if I were to scraplift this layout (and I just might!), I would move the journaling block to the bottom right and the emblem (my embellishment) to the top right to create (I think) a more effective visual triangle.

Ad #8 - Publication Council - How about stealing a title? I liked this one..."Looking Back, Looking Forward." This would certainly be a GREAT title for a self-reflection layout. Or, if you find 'all about me' layouts difficult, you could use it for a layout looking back on your child's life and what you hope for them as you look forward.

Ad #9 - Mercy - This layout reminds me that I need to scrap more about my daily life...like what do I do on an average Tuesday (again, stealing the title). Add a few photos that you take to showcase your day. And what about that list-like text along the left hand side? I think it's perfect for a timeline: 5:20 a.m. - Husband's alarm goes off, he continually hits snooze. 5:40 a.m. - Husband finally gets up. Go back to sleep. 6:45 a.m. - Shower 7:15 a.m. - Wait Kaitlin up....)

Ad #10 - Rooms of Wonder - Inspired by the photo...love the innocence. Like the color combination of the pink and green as well as the wave on the bottom right and top left.

Here's one I've done:

I'm willing to bet that you recognize the ad that this design idea was lifted from. The title, photo placement, captions and circle embellishment were all inspired by a Hanes ad (this particular one featured Kevin Bacon...so was just nice to look at!)

YOUR CHALLENGE?

#1 - Leave a comment here. Tell us which one is your favorite ad from above and why.

#2 - Create a scrapbook layout using one of the ads above as your inspiration. Remember to leave us a link!