Source of inspiration

The weather has been outstanding here, which would make gardening all the sweeter if I didn't have this eye infection which makes wearing my contacts (and my sunglasses) impossible. The infection doesn't seem serious, but it sure isn't fun to be outside. I get headaches. So to the computer (and the scrap space) I go.

Yesterday was Dominic's violin recital. He played the folk tune "Lightly Row" rather well, though a little sharp at the end. The cutest moment came when he forgot to bow and went back to do so.

I spent time finishing up some layouts I started this week, and this got me started thinking about where I start my layouts. Mostly I would say they start with pictures paired with a story, but if I'm to be honest, I say my layouts start with a purpose. Sometimes it is a photo. Sometimes it's a story. And sometimes my inspiration comes from elsewhere.

This layout was inspired a little by story--the annual Larson family egg hunt--but truth be told, I designed the entire page around that shaped paper. I had used the left side on another layout, so I wanted to use up what I had left. Since it's spring themed paper, I'm limited in its use, so on the egg hunt LO it went. I also wanted to use up more of my March Studio Calico kit, so I pulled most of the rest of the products from there. For being designed around product, I think it turned out nice.

This next one was built around a Sketchy Thursdays challenge this week. I wanted to scrap a birthday party for my son, but I wanted to narrow the photo options. This challenge let me do so. I altered the sketch by turning the one photo into four. To do that, I made a mini-template with PSE for 4 2x2 inch photos on a 5x7 inch file, then cut the photos out.

The challenge asked to use green and mark a celebration; coincidentally, my son got a frog Pillow Pet for his birthday, so the challenge fit perfectly. All stuff came from stash, some old. REALLY old. See the frog? Old Fancy Pants rubon, perfect for the LO.

Another Sketchy Thursdays challenge inspiration here, this time with a more unusual design for me. It made me dig into something I don't normally: banners from my April Studio Calico kit. It was fun figuring out how to make them work on a page. I mixed up my challenges a bit and took inspiration from the words "Right now," so I reflected on how my son is shifting away from being an extreme cuddler and how I feel about that. I had desaturated the photos, which worked better with the bright colors.

In this case I used a sketch from Creating Keepsakes. I couldn't get it together enough to meet the submission deadline, but I loved how the sketch forced me to limit my photo choices in the family page about the Renaissance Fair. I had been about to make a mini album with my photos, I had so many photos. Using the sketch helped me exercise restraint. Nice.

So for inspiration, I definitely consider myself in the camp of "inspired by photos and stories," but I enjoy the creative stretch that sketches, challenges, and products give me too.