Inspire Me

A big Saturday hello to everyone! It's that time of the week where I get to show off some beautiful layouts from the Stuff to Scrap Gallery for everyone to ooh & aah over. Hopefully these layouts will inspire you in your own scrapping this weekend. All the layouts are linked to the gallery so you can leave some love!

But before we start, don't forget about the 35% off sale going on in the store until Monday as well as all the special challenges going on this weekend. There's a slow speed scrap, an inspirational challenge, & a store scavenger hunt going on right now, so check out the threads for how to participate & earn some great prizes.

13 and Everything | Wtunison

Every time I see one of Wendy's layouts show up I know it'll be a stunner & as usual, she does not disappoint me! The clustering is just amazing with all the flowers, hearts, ribbons, scatters, & swirls, oh my. I also find it very neat to have the "bad" picture as the focus with the "good" picture blended at the bottom. While I'm very impressed with this, it also makes me glad I only have boys; mud I can deal with! Wendy used the lovely kit Suddenly Serene by Adriana's Cafe

Cayden Trek 1 | Amyjcaz

Since Stuff to Scrap designers can't be nominated for Layout of the Month *check back later today to find out more about it* I'm going to try & showcase a few designer layouts. After all, these talented ladies not only design but they have their own pictures to scrap! This one is by Amy of AmyDane Designs & is simply stunning. I'm really digging the use of the wheel picture as the background with the title that looks like it's burned onto the wagon. This is also a great example of how you don't always need tons of elements, sometimes all you need are a few & let the photos speak for themselves. Amy used a template by Lovely Creations & the kit All Is Well from Scraps 'n Pieces.

Let's go Racin' | ILuvCrush

I'm a total sucker for anything that has to do with Pixar; I've been a fan since Toy Story & we own all their movies. I was pointed to this amazing layout by Paula that features Lightning McQueen & Mater in all their flower glory down at Epcot. The alpha is totally cool with the road map design on it & such a cute idea to have the "hills" with the car rolling down the road that goes over the hills. Notice that the only flowers in the layout are the ones that make up Lightning & Mater! Paula used the huge collaboration between Megan's Creations & Digital Harmony Design Studio, Are We There Yet; this kit is huge & has tons of add ons so pick it up while it's on sale this weekend.

Express Yourself | Dricamendes

I'll admit it. Adriana of Adriana's Cafe has the cutest kid subject evar in her daughter & creates some amazing layouts with her in it. To prove my point, see below; how can this not catch your eye in the gallery? I love the large photo cut into a circle, matted with the variegated paper & hanging off the page; took me a minute but that square border is actually the background paper peeking through the top paper! What I wouldn't give to have Adriana's creativity; naturally, Adriana used her most recent kit, My Stars, for this layout & I know for a fact there's a little freebie in the store so you might want to check it out!

BYU | Scrappinmama

Finally, I've got a layout that features both football players & babies; how cool is that? Lisa's husband took their daughter to the BYU Open Practice Day & how adorable is it that the players took pictures with the baby? Just dying from the cuteness. But getting back to the technical side of things *drat* this is an excellent example of how you can take a template & use it to make a two page layout. Lisa used one of the Cut-Out Templates by Megan's Creations & flipped it horizontally to make the right side of the layout. A great way to make a two page layout without much hassle for those of us who don't venture into two page layouts much *like me!*.

Another thing you should know, is that Lisa used the customized kit College Days by Scraps 'N Pieces. This kit is different because while all the papers/elements/alphas are the same, you get to pick the color palette so that it matches your high school or college colors! This is one kit I'm going to need pick up ... if I can just find my husband's college pictures located somewhere in the depths of our basement. Be sure to read the product description carefully for all the instructions but I promise you won't be disappointed with the finished product.

Head on over to the STS Gallery to see what else our forum members have been up to this week & leave some love on your favorites. If you happen to see a layout that you would like to see featured on the blog, post it in the Inspiration Station section of the forum; I'll have a thread up each week & would love to see what inspires you!