Finding Inspiration

Do you ever feel like you’ve lost your mojo?  You sit down to create and……nothing!  Here are a few tips for finding inspiration.

1.  Look at the catalog.  There are hundreds of beautiful samples in the Stampin’ Up! catalog.  Find one you love and switch up the colors and/or stamp set to make it your own.

2.  Check out your own stash.  Find a card you’ve already made that you really liked and recreate it using different stamps and colors.

3.  Look at Pinterest.  There are literally thousands of card samples on Pinterest.  And, did you know you can search by stamp set name?  Find something you like and tweak it to make it your own.  If you do decide to copy a design exactly, and you’re posting it online, it’s always nice to give the original creator credit for the design.

4.  Keep an inspiration journal.  I have a book where I jot down ideas for projects, with a quick drawing of the layout for future use.  Then, when I’m stumped, I can refer to that for ideas.

5.  Keep a photo journal.  Now that everyone has a camera on their phone, it’s so easy to snap a photo of something that inspires you.
When I was at IKEA last weekend, I took a photo of this framed print.

And, here’s the card it inspired.

Is it an exact copy?  No!  But, that’s the beauty; it doesn’t have to be.  The photo was just for inspiration, so it did its job.  I created something!

Stamps:  Sheltering Tree

Cardstock:  Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink:  Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red

Other:  Real Red 3/8” Mixed Satin Ribbon (coming in the Holiday Catalog), Basic Black Solid Bakers Twine

The next time you’re stumped, I hope some of these ideas will help you find inspiration.

Brusho Class – Sheltering Tree

Today’s card is another from my Brusho class.

I got the idea for this card from the fabulous France Martin.  You can see her card here.

On this card, we used painters tape to mask the edges of watercolor paper.  We created the background with spritzers and the Moss Green and Prussian Blue Brusho Crystals, then removed the tape to expose the white edges.

The tree is stamped in Basic Black and highlighted with the Chalk Marker.

Stamps:  Sheltering Tree

Cardstock:  Dapper Denim, Whisper White

Ink:  Basic Black

Paper:  Watercolor

Punch:  Triple Banner

Other:  Basic Black Solid Bakers Twine, Chalk Marker

I hope you like this card.  If you’re interested in any of the supplies used to create this card, you can find them at my website below.

Cookie Cutter Scarecrow Z Fold

Another card from last month’s Cards & More class.  It’s a Z-fold card using the Sheltering Tree set and the Cookie Cutter Halloween set.  These Cookie Cutter stamp sets have been so popular.  Stampin’ Up! has done a great job designing these sets, with the coordinating punch!

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Here’s the fixin’s:

Stamps:  Sheltering Tree, Cookie Cutter Halloween

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Basic Black, Delightful Dijon, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Warmth and Cheer DSP Stack

Punch:  Cookie Cutter Builder

Other:  Woodland TIEF

Supplies used in this card can be found in my online store.

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