Scrap Our Stash March Challenge: Dusting off Inspiration

   When the  " Dust It Off" March challenge was announced  at Scrap Our Stash, I started rummaging through my stuff wondering what item I should dust off. Should it be the heat embossing tool that I rarely use? How about finally getting out my sewing machine? It has been sitting in my closet unused for years and I have always wanted to try sewing on paper. How about those stacks of snaps? I really had wanted them in so many colors and have used so few. As I continued to shuffle and organize my things, I came across a stack of old magazines, many of them dated all the way back to 2007. That's when a realization hit me. I always like to bookmark pages I want to scraplift. Yet...when was the last time I had done just that.
  Often times, a new magazine comes out, I get excited to read it and so I file the old one away to use later. The same goes with on-line inspiration. I see a page at a website or gallery and save it in an idea file on my computer. I just never go back and use the ideas I have gathered. So I decided that for this challenge, the first thing I would do, before dusting off my tools and supplies, would be to dust off some of my inspiration.
  My first choice came from the February/March 2008 edition of Scrapbooks ETC. It's " one more page you can put together in a  flash".

Fancy Pants papers, border and stickers
Creative Memories alphabet
Making Memories tiny type alphas

I really like these simple 15 minute style pages. The basic design bones are right there...just add photos and embellies and you are done., literally, in a flash. Making quick pages like this is helping me learn to spend less time choosing supplies. I make decisive, quick decisions and am able to scrap faster.

quick tip: If you have older sticker or alphas, update them with glossy accents(or similar product). Glossy accents is a clear adhesive. When you layer it over an older sticker or even a paper die cut shape, you can create those more modern epoxy looking stickers that so many of us love. On the page above, I dusted off some 8 plus year old Creative Memories alphabet stickers and added glossy accents to the top.

 For my second page, I chose to dust off some Internet inspiration. I am sorry to say that I do not know who made this wonderful page. I have had it for at least a few months in my computer file. Whoever you are...thank you for this gorgeous page to inspire me:

Now here is my take:



Cosmo cricket papers, die cut, and border stickers
October afternoon rub on letters, papers, and made with love sticker
Foof a la buttons
Bic Mark it in woodsy brown

 I chose to hand stitch versus machine stitch.I should have dusted off my sewing machine but I was a bit too lazy to drag it out of the closet. I used my 3-d adhesive to add a little pop to some of my fussy cut elements.

Quick tip: the words Cherry Pie in the title are actually the name of the paper. I often look at the strips with the paper name to see if I can use them on a page somewhere. I hate throwing anything out. In this case, they were exactly what was needed in the title.

Now, I invite you to dust off not just tools or supplies, but the things that inspire you. Share your projects with us here at Scrap Our Stash!