Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May Challenge: A mood board


Great start to May! Riikka here to present the May challenge. Here in Finland May really marks the start of sunny weather and warmer days. The nearing summer effects the spirit and the ever increasing amount of light turns people happy and light. May Day is celebrated with balloons and streamers and with a picnic amongst the family. 

The challenge this month is to be inspired by the mood board I created. I tried to capture the light, happy feeling of May together with some beautiful products from my Zeus and Zoe kit. You can use the mood board anyway you like - you can take the colors to your creation or just be inspired a single detail, like delicate trims in the board. Let your mind wonder and create something spectacular! 

If you wish to see the pictures in the board bigger, please visit this Pinterest board (link). Photos that aren't there are taken by me. And by the way, have you found this board yet (link)? It contains sample projects and ideas for monthly blog challenge - talk about inspiration!



Our sponsor this month is May Arts - a fabulous ribbon company with huge array of different products. "May Arts is a ribbon wholesaler, based in Riverside, Connecticut, serving over 16,000 customers worldwide. We offer an exceptional selection of ribbons, including sheer, satin, grosgrain, silk and a variety of patterns and prints. We also maintain a steady stock of inventory so that orders can be fulfilled immediately. As one of the country’s leading wholesalers of decorative ribbons, May Arts has been providing superior products and the highest level of customer service for over 25 years."

Main Prize: Over 20 yards of assorted ribbons and trims




Random Prize:

Couture Creations
http://couturecreations.com.au



An Australian owned and loved brand, Couture Creations is the culmination of 20 years experience in the scrapbooking industry. From its final inception in 2010, Couture Creations has been devoted to producing expertly designed, high quality products overseen by veteran designers and crafters for a result that is both simple and elegant.

Couture Creations is part of Artdeco Creations growing collection of quality craft brands available worldwide. Distributed through a network of the best industry representatives in scrapbooking and craft internationally, Artdeco Creations has the ability to test and meet global expectations for quality and precision beyond local trends and markets.




Here's my take on the challenge. I've included the textures from the mood board together with the touches of pink, the light color scheme and some beautiful trims. I was also inspired by the "Do not fear the future" frase and wanted to create something connected with it. 

I tried to capture the light feel of May and spring to this layout. I wanted a lot of texture to the background but wanted to keep it light at the same time, so this paper by Prima Marketing was just perfect. There's a lot of going on there, but the over all appearance of the paper is still light. I added my own touch to the page with stamping, doodling and splashing acrylic paint and mist. I used grid stamp in an angle to reseble the diamond type pattern in one of the pictures in the mood board.


Although I mostly scrap pictures of my children anyway, for this future related page they seemed to work perfectly. Children are the future, after all. I chose to go with this picture of my first born, taken on her 4th birthday.

Almost all of the supplies are from my Zeus and Zoe kit. The butterflies and the large flowers are cut from patterned papers in my kit. The delicate trims and  lace are from my kit, too, as well as the old book page. The pearls are  taken from a jewellery piece and scattered around the page. The little nest embellishment is selfmade and there's a tutorial for it in my blog. I felt it fitted perfectly to this spring-like layout and to the mood board, too. Behind the nest there's two feathers, inspired by the wings in the mood board.

I hope I have inspired you and showed you a few ways to include the inspiration from the mood board to your creation. I'm really looking forward to see what you have created! Please, join in!


Here's some detail shots:




Here are the rules: 
1. Projects must be linked up to our linky tool in the side bar, using the URL of the ACTUAL POST, not your entire blog.
2. You may submit as many entries as you would like and combine your entry with up to 2 other challenges.
3. Post this challenge to your blog and mention, in your post, that you are playing along at Zeus and Zoe TOGETHER with a link back to our Zeus and Zoe blog.
4. All entries must be received by MIDNIGHT EST on the 31st May 
5. Entries to be submitted via the linky tool at the top of the sidebar ONLY, not by email and not by linking up in the comments section please.

Information about our challenges:
1. Zeus and Zoe Challenges are open to anyone, anywhere in the world.
2. Our DT do their best to comment on all entries, you can make their job easier by turning off your word verification.
3. Challenges are held monthly and each month TWO winners are chosen. One winner is chosen by our DT and the other is chosen by random draw.
4. Challenge winners will always be announced within a week of the challenge closing and winners are then required to contact Marivic.
5. Prizes not claimed within two weeks will be forfeited.
6. The Merit winner will have an image of their project featured in the winners post, together with a link back to the homepage of their blog.
7. Winners will be awarded a Winner's Badge to post on their blog...full bragging rights included!

We can't wait to see your entries for this challenge! Thank you for your visit!

10 comments:

Sandie said...

What a fabulous challenge ... and a stunning layout Riikka.... very beautiful!

Lizzy Hill said...

Gorgeous board for inspiration & your LO is amazingly beautiful...love that banner & the touch of pink is just perfect:):)

Dana Tatar said...

Amazing page Riikka! I LOVE your mood board! Thanks for the inspiration! =)

Denise van Deventer said...

Beautiful page Riikka! Love those soft and gentle colours and the soft textures! Love it! Super challenge with the mood board! ;-)

Norma Gomez said...

Gorgeous layout Riikka, I love the photo you used and the board is stunning too!!

Unknown said...

Riikka..I love your challenge this month!
Very soft colors and your sample project is just amazing...It is really pretty! Thank you!

Ella Swan said...

Wow Riika this is gorgeous! Just love the mood board & your layout - so beautiful!!

Adriana B said...

wonderful challenge, love the mood board, the layout is gorgeous and beautiful :)

Claudia N. said...

LOVE that LO and the challenge theme!
Thank you for the lovely inspiration!

Hugs,
die amelie x

Debbie said...

Beautiful layout Riikka! Love this month's challenge and mood board!