Variations on a Theme

I've been thinking (ok don't all fall over!)

I've been trying to find out why I often feel like I've lost my mojo or just don't have any inspiration. It's a horrid feeling and I wanted to get to the darn bottom of it!

I realised that for me it seems to be linked to being a bit daunted, feeling like I have to design something brand new and original and not having a starting point. I thought back to the days when I used to sell my cards and needed to be quite quick, I remembered that I had a favourite layout and I just made loads and loads and loved every minute! No two cards were ever the same though, I would play around with the original plan, by adding different elements or papers.

So this week I've set myself an exercise, to stick to one theme, one set of papers and one set of images. I'm actually really excited about it because I've taken the work out of it, I know I'm going to really enjoy crafting this week.

I made a card on Saturday which was inspired by a card my good friend Maddy made. I really like the end result so I've decided that that will be this week's theme.

Above is Saturday's card, my starting point for all my cards this week. I'll be using the same set of papers - Amy Butler Lotus Mat pad and my new download collection - Holly & Madison. On Friday I'll take a group shot of them all to see how this one has evolved.

So here's my first result.....

You can still see the basic style; layered papers, paper pieced image, ribbon, flower, folded corners etc but they are still quite different don't you think? I'm enjoying this process and I would urge you all to give it a try, why waste a good idea by making it a one off? Stretch it, enhance it, let it evolve! In doing so you'll find you'll learn a lot from it.
Pop back tomorrow for day 2 of my Variations on a Theme week!