Inspired by Gaudi

Time Out Challenge #320 has just gone live and this fortnight we have a

Photo Inspiration Challenge

I snapped this photo last year when I toured Europe with my sister.  It was taken inside the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and this photo does not do it justice!  It was a humbling experience to be inside such a work of art and I have to admit the beauty and majesty of the Sagrada Familia knocked the air right out of my lungs when I first saw it - I think I may even have shed a tear!  This is just one of dozens of arched windows, all slightly different and all designed to transform the incoming light into a kaleidoscope of colour on those interior columns and carefully placed so that the pattern changes with the morning and evening sun as well as the seasons!  I visited a few of the residences in Barcelona that he designed as well - Gaudi was a genius and like so many geniuses was largely unappreciated in his own time!  Fortunately there were enough people who did appreciate his genius and there are still examples of his genius dotted around Barcelona today!

Here's a closer look!

Challenge 320 is being sponsored by Top Flight Stamps and they are very kindly offering our top pick as chosen by the design team a $25 store credit!

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, our guest this fortnight is Jane Taylor of Purple Jet our winner from Challenge #315.  Be sure to check out Jane's Instagram Account if you haven't visited her previously.   You can also see how my talented team mates were inspired on the Time Out Blog!

You may be inspired by the architecture, the colours or the shapes.  Please explain how you were inspired - especially if it isn't obvious!   You can enter as many times as you like but please limit your other challenges entered to 4 (5 including ours)!  I hope you can take some Time Out and join us this fortnight - you have until the July 22nd to link up your entries ... can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

Normally I would have looked to my pile of NBUS items for inspiration but how could I pass on the opportunity to use this lovely window die (Poppystamps Arched Gothic Cathedral Window) again - I mean it's perfect isn't it!

For the "stained glass", I searched through my copious papers but I couldn't get the ombre look I wanted so I visited the digital site PNGWING and found this image which I loaded into Word and reoriented (so that the warmer reds were on the bottom and the cooler blues on the top) and resized to fit behind the window.

I cut the aperture from the card panel, placed the "stained glass" behind this, then added the die cut back into the aperture.  I stacked another of the background windows (there are 2 dies in the set) then added the finer silver die cut to the top.

I decided to go with a Christmas sentiment (Spellbinders Handmade Sentiments) and augment my Christmas card stash - after all we're over half way through the year now!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

Christmas Cards All Year Round August Challenge - "P is for Peace" (which is what I felt inside the "Q is for quiet" Sagrada Familia); 

52 Christmas Card August Challenge - No Snow;

The Outlawz August Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas goes;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #209 - Anything Christmas Goes!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Twisting by the Pool

Challenge #316 at Time Out has just gone live and this fortnight we have a

Photo Inspiration Challenge

Our lovely team member Carol shared this photo with us last Summer - here's a closer look!

Challenge 316 is being sponsored by Lawn Fawn and they are very kindly offering our top pick as chosen by the design team a $25 store credit!

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

When I first saw this photo, the pitch of the roof reminded of this beach hut die (Mes Ptits Ciseaux Cabanes).  Obviously I was inspired by the navy and white striped cushion in the photo to make the beach hut up in navy and white pinstripe!  I used an old stamp to create a pin-striped background (WMS Pinstripe Mini - love the distressed look of this stamp)!

And how could I not be inspired by that pink striped towel - I found a scrap of patterned paper that was just big enough to cut a "towel" (Slimline Sentiments Blanket).

The loopy "aloha" sentiment (Lawn Fawn Scripty Aloha) fitted perfectly on the "towel" and was inspired by the painted toenails.  I went over the stacked sentiment with wink of Stella and then added glossy accents - love the sparkly effect of wink of Stella with the Glossy Accents!

I chose this background panel because it reminded me of the water in the pool and the surfboard by the beach hut door was inspired by the inflatable lilo in the pool.

Best of all, just about everything was cut from snippets so it cost me virtually nothing!

 

This photo really worked some magic on my flagging mojo, but if you're still stuck for ideas, you can see how my talented team mates were inspired by this photo over on the Time Out Blog!  I do hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us this fortnight!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

Snippets Playground Challenge #535 - loads of snippets used;

Inkspirational Challenge #370 - Leftovers;

Shopping Our Stash SOS#576 - Summertime;

Double D Challenge DD 6/26 - Tropical;

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #640 - Something Beginning with B (Beach Hut);

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!   Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Sunset Collage

 Challenge #312 at Time Out has just gone live and this fortnight we have a

Photo Inspiration Challenge

Our lovely team member Deepti shared this photo with us of her trip to Durres Albania last Summer - here's a closer look!

Challenge 312 is being sponsored by Doodlebugs and they are very kindly offering our top pick as chosen by the design team a $25 store credit!

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge and speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is Fran Wing of FranMadeinOregon - our winner from Challenge #307!

You can also see how Fran was inspired by our photo as well as my talented team mates over on the Time Out Blog!  I do hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us this fortnight!

I took this opportunity to pull out these Waffle Flower Postage Collage dies and Waffle Flower Postage Collage Block Dies.  I had a hard time finding a European distributor for Waffle Flower but finally found a distributor in Germany (no English on the site but thankfully I know enough German to get by and Google translate helps).  You lucky USA people don't have that problem as our wonderful sponsor this challenge stocks most of the top brands - including Waffle Flower!

  Eventually I hope to buy some of the matching stamp sets to go with these dies but for now I "made do" with some wonderful images from an old WMS stamp sets (My Island and North Shore).  I also added some die-cut seagulls (Frantic Stamper) which I suspect may also be NBUS (found them when I was trawling through my nautical stash)!

To create the sunset backgrounds, I blended several Distress Inks on a large white background and used the Blocks die to selectively cut out the images.  then popped them back into the negative as a jig and stamped them with various images!   Then added the blocks to a Collage background.

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #85 - NBUS Postage Collage dies and Seagulls;

Traumfabrik Challenge #149 - Code 3 (Use at least 3 colours);

Shopping Our Stash SOS572 - Up, Up and Away (Things you would find in the sky);

Make My Monday Challenge #276 - Birds and or Eggs;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Hello Lovely

 Challenge #307 at Time Out has just gone live and this fortnight we have a

Photo Inspiration Challenge

The inspiration for this challenge is actually the prize on offer - here's a closer look!

Kim Heggins of Running Stitch Design is sponsoring this special challenge and is offering this lovely bag as a prize for our Top Pick as chosen by the Design Team (inside USA only - thank you for understanding).   Many of you will remember Kim as a former Design Team member at Time Out!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is the very talented Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone our winner from Challenge #302 - do pop over there for some lovely inspiration!   You can check out how Michele and my talented team mates were inspired by this lovely bag over on the Time Out Blog!

I was fortunate to find snippets of a purple polka dot DP and striped vellum in my snippets boxes and the canopy and the chassis of this gorgeous NBUS Spellbinders Flower Cart gave me the perfect image to use them!  

The cart's wood grain trimmings reminded me I had this NBUS 

wood grain 

frame set (Hero Arts Infinity Wood Frame) - and I love the bursting out of the frame effect!  

Some more snippets of green, pink, purple and yellow and I had some flowers for my cart and I used Distress Ink to give them some depth! From snippets of silver I was able to cut a bucket to sit between the wheels and another larger bucket for the inside!

I finally got to break open the Glimmer Machine I bought before Christmas 2024 and created a few sentiments.   It's still a learning curve for me but this "hello lovely" sentiment (Spellbinders GLP-379) didn't turn out too badly and nestled nicely on the cart without obscuring too much of the pretty striped vellum!  

  

How does Kim's bag inspire you - I hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us this fortnight!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #83 - NBUS Flower Cart, Glimmer Machine, Spellbinders GLP-379, Woodgrain Frame;

Moving Along With The Times Challenge #186 - Floral;

Neglected Stuff Challenge January - the Glimmer Machine and Woodgrain Frame;

Inkspirational Challenge #361 - Inspired by the bouquets in this Visual Prompt;

Love Those Pretty Papers February Challenge - Polkadots;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate