Sites of the week

Thanks so much for all your input regarding your mojo, or lack there of, and what you do to overcome it. It’s interesting for me to see how we are all so alike and so different when it comes to the world of stamping. I think that I slowly regaining my mojo. I worked on a couple of projects yesterday {still to come} and I was happy with the outcome. Today I am prepping for another Copic 1 & 2 class. I really love teaching this class and it has gotten my creative juices flowing…YAY!
Today I have a couple more Whiff of Joy cards to share with you. This first one uses these beautiful, whimsy clouds. This card was actually made at the height of my lack of mojo, but I found a way to overcome it. I started by making an ATC {click HERE for my tutorial on SCS}. I tried to make it as intricate as possible, without overdoing it. Once I was done with the ATC part of it, I designed the card around it and viola…

The punch that is used on the card is a new Fiskars punch that I got on my shopping trip with Susan a few weeks ago. It’s called apron lace…cute, huh? The clouds have a “silver lining” that was created with my Sakura Stardust pen and the letters on the cards are Thickers…love ‘em!

This next card kinda gave me fits because I just wasn’t sure what to do with the bench image. The one thing that kept popping into my head was to do a “Miss You” card because the bench is empty. I brought out the sentiment from one of my MFT sets and used it along with the image.

Just as a reminder, I have THIS Whiff of Joy stamp up for grabs for participants in this week’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY. You can see all the details HERE.

I love that spring has finally sprung! Everything is in bloom here…including my allergies! AhhhhChooooo! Back to me loving it…the grass is starting to not look like barren wasteland, the tree have fresh leaves on them…well, at least the neighbor’s do! LOL! We are hoping that ours decide to wake up anytime now. Any tree advice is welcome!

I used the blank white palette as my backdrop to this card and added fresh, bright, spring-y colors along with black for some POP! This card uses the new Verve Stamps set, Floral Symphony.

Now, onto my question {it’s a 2-parter}…
What do you think causes lack of mojo and how do you overcome it?

I ask because I am feeling a little down about my mojo. I can’t decide if my mojo left when I went out of town and was away from stamping for a few days or if it got caught up with a bad card. I made a card the other day that I LOATHED, and I kinda think that my mojo got hung up with that bad experience. I didn’t feel mojo-less before the bad card, but it’s almost like I was drained while making it. Does that even make sense? {Tony, don’t even go there!} LOL! Anyways, I just want to know about your thoughts/experiences.

Before I get into the TCP Tuesday post, I want to let you know that Jen Tapler is having a HUGE blog candy give away that benefits the Alzheimer’s Association. You can check it out HERE.

Well, today is Tuesday, so it’s time for another TCP Tuesday challenge. This week, Leigh has put together a fun sketch…which I managed to mess up a little. When I scribbled down the sketch to take into my studio, I forgot to write “sentiment” in the circle panel and then used it as my main image panel. OOPS! I still like the card, so I am just going with it! Here it is…

Here’s the sketch…

So, wanna play along with the TCP Tuesday challenge?…EVERYONE can! Here’s what you are gonna want to know…
1. Each a week one of the The Cat’s Pajamas DT Members will host a challenge.
2. The challenges will vary {stamp, color, theme/inspiration, sketch, etc.}
3. You will have until {this} Saturday night to complete the challenge.
4. Link your project on this week’s hostess’ challenge announcement. This week you will link your project on THIS post on Leigh’s blog.
5. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, highly encouraged. {Unless it is a challenge calling for a specific stamp}
6. There will be one winner each month. They will be deemed that month’s Swankiest Stamper and get $25 in Cat’s Cash {money to spend on the TCP site!}.
7. When uploading to SCS, please use the keyword TCPTUES51 for this challenge.
8. Alma will post the entries from the week the following Monday on her blog.
9. The newly crowned Swanky Stamper will be announced on the First of the Month and have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat’s Pajamas website where he/she will reign for the entire month.
10. Oh yea…HAVE FUN!

Last week, Emily came up with an AWESOME color challenge! I love this pic of green, gold and orange…

My first thought was to do an elegant card, but once I came across this turtle stamp I knew that I had to use it and go “cutesy” style. This stamp is another in the Turtle Tots line, called Picking Posies.

Recently, I have become very enamored with Kraft paper, so I started by stamping the image directly on Kraft paper. I then colored it in with Copic markers and Inksentials pen by Ranger, which is probably the BESTEST white gel pen out there!!

Emily will be announcing a new challenge today on the Bella blog. I hope you will play along!

Also, there is a stamp up for grabs for participants in this week’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY Here.

It’s not usual for me to blog on Sunday, but I am taking this weekend to show you a couple of the Whiff of Joy creations that I have made. If you didn’t see it already, check out this week’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY HERE…there’s a chance to win a Whiff of Joy stamp! YAY!

This card uses another of the new releases from WOJ called Melinda with Muffin Basket. I took it upon myself to make them into cupcakes!…go figure!

Detail shot…

I have mentioned this tip several times, but I am gonna do it again so forgive me now if I sound like a broken record. To achieve a shimmer-y effect over a larger area, use a Sakura Stardust pen to outline image and then spread the glittery ink around by using a aqua painter filled with rubbing alcohol.

Oh, by the way, I REALLY like this sketch and I think that you might expect to see it again