Lauren Reid’s Team Blog

This month my son’s daycare is “visiting” Japan. They are doing Japanese crafts, reading Japanese books and enjoying Japanese art. My children are part Japanese, my last name is Ishida and I met my husband while we were living in Japan so this is a topic I know a little something about.

I have always found Japanese art to be very inspiring so I thought I’d carry the theme to this blog post and bring a little Japanese inspiration from around the web to your Monday morning. Enjoy!

Hope your find some Zen in your Monday.

Nicole

Hello all!

Today I wanted to tell you about one of my latest “Oooh Cool” finds. Not only is it practical (well, sort of LOL), it’s also full of possibilities for inspiration and eye candy. I’m talking about Domino magazine’s My Deco File.

Without subscribing to the magazine or paying for anything, you get to create a nifty gallery of images that you find around cyberspace. You can upload your own pictures or the My Deco File Bookmark grabber lets you capture images as you browse the web. While the original intent is to organize home design inspirations, you can grab a layout from a gallery to lift, or a color swatch, just as easily as an image from a blog feed or website. You can then organize them into “books” if you so choose, in any type of category. Or don’t, you have a lot of control. One of my favorite features is that I can keep books private or make them public. After  you add an image, it takes you right back where you started. It’s a never ending supply of all things fun to look at.

Check it out here…..My Deco File

Have fun!

Hi  - Nicole here with a little Mojo kickstart for your Monday morning.

I like to stock up on children’s books when I travel home to Australia. I like the fact that they contain Australian words and figures of speech. It’s my little way of trying to help my children grow up ”bilingual” - if Australian counts as a language.

During my most recent trip, I discovered a wonderful Irish children’s book author and illustrator by the name of Oliver Jeffers. He writes in British english which means he uses words like Petrol instead of gas and torch instead of flashlight. But of course that’s not the only reason I bought the books. I love the quirkiness of the stories and the beautiful, fun artwork. After some quick internet research, it turns out he is also an artist.

Oh, and his books are available on Amazon - both US and UK versions. I bought How To Catch a Star and The Way Back Home and quickly ordered this one and this one when I got home (the airline luggage allowance wouldn’t allow for more).

You can find more information and see more artwork from Oliver Jeffers on his website which is an inspiration on its own. In the meantime, here are few of my favourite images.

Hope you have a great Mojo Monday.

Happy Monday!

When I thought about inspiration for today I really debated on what to add from my arsenal. What I settled on is a wonderful blog called The Big Picture at Boston.com Their tagline “News stories in photographs” is a perfect description and I have come to really enjoy the exceptional photography. The subject matter, style and emotional content vary. You never know exactly what you’ll find, but that just adds to the fun. If you’ve got a “Case of the Mondays” or Tuesdays for that matter, I hope you’ll check it out and find a bit of inspiration for yourself.

Happy Monday everyone… I’m here to bring you some yummy mojo on this fine monday! I know it’s hard to believe but FALL is rapidly approaching.. Someone please tell me where summer went!

With FALL comes a new season, a new school year and this fall…a new color palette! I thought I would bring you some great color inspiration for your upcoming scrapping goodness..

This Fall you’ll see these colors popping up everywhere.. fashion, decor, and your guessed it DIGILAND!

I’ve clearly seen these wonderful colors already in the stores…

The maize yellow seems to be THE COLOR for the season!!

Inspired by the fabulous fall color of nature!

Another yummy color palette that screams Digi Goodness…

This fab Amy Butler fabric is a prime example

And we can’t forget this popular color trend full of bright and bling that I think will be showing up on every teen this fall! I feel old as it reminds me of the 80’s..

I hope this brings you all some inspiration, especially when it seems like your mojo may have been left at the beach this summer!

The LRD team has been overflowing with inspiration on white backgrounds! We all scraplifted an awesome LO by Pixiedust and we have been going crazy with the white ever since! Check out a few of the LOs we have created:

by Barb

by Nicole

by Robin

Perhaps we are missing snow (probably not!) but whatever it is, we are definitely inspired by the WHITE!

Happy National Junk Food Day (NJFD)! What’s that? You didn’t know it was National Junk Food Day?? You actually had never heard of this craziness? Teehee! Me, either, but I thought it was the perfect jumping point for a fun LO about your secret love of skittles, your daughter’s sweet tooth, or your husband’s need for Barbeque chips (can you tell I speak from experience here?) We all know that eating is supposed to nourish our bodies with nutrients… yea, yea, yea. Sometimes, a girl just needs some junk food! What better day to indulge than today, the official national holiday for junk! For more inspiration regarding National Junk Food Day, go here!!

I don’t know about you, but music runs through most of my life in one way or another. Sometimes it’s just the background noise to a random daily activity. Sometimes I find myself seeking out a certain type of music to fit the mood I’m in. Sometimes I browse iTunes just to see what new sounds I can discover.

On days that I’m looking for inspiration while scrapping, I often find myself searching out the lyrics of songs I love. I actually write for a living, but there are times when I just can’t seem to find the words to express exactly what I’m feeling. There are also those songs that speak to me and make me deal with emotions that, once scrapped, help me cope or bring me joy.

In my searches for particular lyrics, I find LyricsAndSongs.com does the best job of listing obscure songs or artists with great accuracy.

If you need a mojo kickstart, why not try browsing sites with lyrics or quotes and see what you stumble across. I’ve yet to try it without getting at least a page or two out of the deal.

Be sure to leave us a comment if you end up scrapping a page with some favorite song lyrics. We’d love to see what you create!

–Karen

Keely here wishing everyone a Happy Monday! We are in the full swing of summer here, it’s hot, the kids are out of school and I thought it would be fun to do something that required few brain cells. I love color, in real life and in my “creative” life. I thought it would be fun to share the following Color Sense Game. My own answers and outcomes were actually a little surprising. Take the quiz for a diversion, if you’re feeling really motivated, you could even scrap a page with your results in mind.

Play Here

Good morning everyone and happy Monday. Today’s Mojo kickstart is all about photography - specifically baby photography.

My new little man is two weeks old today and as a scrapbooking Mum I am, of course, trying to capture some special photos of him before he gets too big (and the way this kid is eating, I don’t have much time :)).

So I went in search of some online inspiration and want to share what I found. Although I was searching specifically for baby photography, this information should inspire all of your photos, regardless of subject.

Tips and tricks

• Kodak’s top ten tips for photographing babies - some of these are obvious butalways good for a reminder.
• Tips for photographing babies in low light - essential for winter babies or even summer babies if you live in the Pacific Northwest (when is the rain going to stop?)
• Creative Props for Children and Baby Photography - Flickr Group

Inspiring Blogs and websites - Baby and Family Photography

• Tara Whitney
• Diana Hall Photography
• Tonya Joy Photography
• Heather Mosher Photography

Other Inspiration

• Flickr - Search “Baby Photography” and prepare to be overwhelmed.

This is only a tiny sampling of the inspiration available on the internet. Please link me up if you have any favourites to share. I’d love to see them!

And before I go - here’s one more little piece of personal inspiration. You didn’t think I’d sign off without at least one baby pic did you?

OK - two

Thanks for dropping by and have a great Monday.

Nicole