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What *Inkspires* You?

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on July 14, 2020 in Uncategorized

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Today I have the pleasure and honor of hopping with Courtney Kreeber as part of her new online craft magazine, Create and Inkspire. There is a small group of us are talking about what originally “inkspired” us to get into cardmaking, and what our journey through the process has been like. You should have arrived here from the super sweet Maria Nyce and the next stop after me is the amazing Jennifer Hartsgrove (Don’t worry, I’ll put the links at the end too!) What about you? Was it a company whose product spoke to you? Was it a YouTuber you serendipitously found? Maybe it was a technique that sucked you in, like heat embossing. Before I get into my story, let me share the card I made for the hop.

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The background is a Cover-A-Card stamp by Impression Obsession called Flower Garden, heat embossed in white embossing powder from Simon Says Stamp. The large “friend” sentiment is from MFT’s Anything But Basic Friendship sentiment set. The sub sentiment is from Pink & Main’s Happy For You set. I used makeup brushes to ink blend 3 colors of Distress Oxide inks over the embossing. The sentiment is heat embossed in white on vellum, which I then ran through my Zyron to hide the adhesive. The panel was die cut with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die and popped up on fun foam for dimension. I added white strips of cardstock to finish off the edges of the vellum and added glossy white epoxy dots to finish it off. Here’s another look:

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So what “inkspired” me??? My best friend. No, she wasn’t a cardmaker. She was a scrapbooker like me, but she lives 600+ miles away and sharing my projects with her via pictures wasn’t nearly as much fun as when we would scrapbook together during visits. A mutual friend suggested cardmaking since I already had all the supplies… inks, paper, embellishments… I just needed sentiments. She suggested I get a stamp set with many sentiments to choose from. I purchased a Hero Arts set called Everyday Sayings with 18 sentiments. I remember thinking… “There. This one set will have everything I could need, so I won’t have to buy any more sets.” And I stuck to that one set for a long time, until I realized it didn’t have any holiday sentiments. From there it was a very slippery slope and I won’t admit here just how many sets I currently own! Or how many are on my wish list!!!

Since that first card, my bestie has received many cards from me, but not as many as she deserves. As any good friend would do, I sucked her into the cardmaking hobby too! I mean, she already had all the supplies… except a good stamp set for sentiments. 😉

For almost a year we had a challenge group consisting of me and my bestie plus the friend who got me cardmaking, and her bestie. We took turns picking sketches or themes and marveled at the variety in our end results and how our supplies and styles impacted the design. Life happened and we disbanded. I missed it so much I searched for similar groups only to be blown away by the cardmaking community online… Splitcoast Stampers, YouTube, blogs, and online challenges. I immediately started a blog so I could participate and share! I’ve have since found even more inspiration through magazines, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook groups like Handmade Happiness, the group founded by Courtney Kreeber.

While I miss scrapbooking, I love that I can create *and share* mini pieces of art in a relatively short period of time compared to scrapbooking. And perhaps one of those cards will “inkspire” someone else to try out cardmaking. They probably already have all the supplies they need… except for a good stamp set for sentiments!!! 😁

I hope you enjoyed my story and will continue on the hop to Jennifer Hartsgrove. If you are visiting me for the first time, I’d love if you would leave me a comment while you are here and consider subscribing to my blog or following me on IG @misplacedmojo. Be sure to check out Create & Inkspire too, cause Courtney is releasing her first monthly kit *tomorrow* and you don’t want to miss out!!!

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MisplacedMojo

 

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Jan’s Digi Stamps July DT Post

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on July 6, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

Welcome back, y’all! You’re just in time to kick off the July challenge at Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge and what better way to do it that celebrating Christmas in July! Jan’s Digi Stamps is having a month long, 25% off sale, on all of her Christmas sets with no coupon code needed! Whoo-hoo! In honor, I opted to use one of her Christmas sets for you today. Today’s card uses just one of the many images from the set aptly called Reindeer.

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If you follow my blog, you might have seen that I have already used this set once already, but using one of the silhouette images. That post is here if you missed it.

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This time I selected a single deer, printed it with one of the sentiments from the same set, printed and die cut the panel. Then I watercolored the deer with Tombow markers, my go-to medium of late. I selected a masculine patterned paper, and mounted it to a kraft card base. I used another piece of kraft and embossed it with a plaid embossing folder. I added a hearty piece of felt ribbon on that and layered everything up with the focal panel popped on foam tape around the ribbon. I couldn’t resist adding Wink of Stella to the snow. I normally wouldn’t add something glittery to a masculine card, but I thin even a guy can appreciate the glistening of the snow! Pretty simple, but that’s what guys  appreciate! Here’s another view:

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I sure would love if you would take a moment to see what the rest of the DT did today for the July challenge kick off over on Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge site! While you are there, be sure to link up a project of your own. The challenge is truly Anything Goes, and can be papercrafts, jewelry, sculpting, coloring books, baking, or just about anything else you can make! Just be sure to follow the challenge site to have a chance of winning 1 of 2 prizes. 1 draw will be made from just the entries using Jan’s images, and 1 draw is from ALL of the entries, so you have 2 chances to win if you use a JDS image. Jan’s images are available in large sets and for such a little price, and include both b/w, colored, and sometimes silhouette versions, both PNG and JPEG formats, and include multiple sentiments to choose from. They are really a great deal! And don’t forget that the Christmas in July sale is going on this whole month in the JDS shop for 25% off Christmas sets!

ETA: 9/10/20 This card was picked as one of five $10 winners to the Stamplorations store for their August Summer Vacation challenge!

ETA: 10/2/20 This card was chosen as Top 3 for Createful Heart Cards!!!

MisplacedMojo

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2CCC July DT Post with Jan’s Digi Stamps

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on July 1, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

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This post is kicking off the July challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies, where the theme is always Anything With a Critter! Your critter can be cutesy, creepy, realistic looking, silhouette, die cut… as long as the critter is prominent on your card. Our sponsor this month is the amazing Jan’s Digi Stamps, who has great critter images and so much more. If you haven’t checked out Jan’s site before, you’ll want to head over and see the variety of sets and check out how much you get in each one… so many images and sentiments in her sets! See what I mean?

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This Christmas in July card was made with a set aptly named Reindeer. The set includes not just the silhouette images but also b/w and colored images, as well as 4 beautiful sentiments! For this card I chose to use the silhouette image of a deer family. I printed it on bristol paper, die cut with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die, and ink blended with a couple Distress Oxide inks in shades of blue. I added a shadow to the snow beneath them with Promarkers and faded it out with the colorless blender. I found the perfect coordinating patterned paper in my stash. I used a Crafter’s Companion die set called Frosty Christmas to die cut a snowflake from white shimmer paper and added some bling to finish it off. Here’s another look:

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I hope you are as excited as I am to see what my teamies made for this challenge! So come over to the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge to see and to enter your own critter card in the challenge. And while you are at it, submit it to Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge too, where its always Anything Goes! Don’t forget to pay a visit to Jan’s Digi Stamps, where they are having a Christmas in July sale you do not want to miss!!! All Christmas sets are 25% off the whole month of July!!! No code necessary! Hope this chilly Christmas card cooled you off a bit from these warm summer temps! 😊 Until next time…

MisplacedMojo

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Same Set Syndrome June Hop with Joy Clair

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 30, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Hop

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Hard to believe but I’m in another incredible hop, this time with Same Set Syndrome! You should have arrived here from Jessica Mcaffee Mercer, and be sure to hop onto the next stop for a video from the incredible Renee Moran (I’ll link again at the bottom of this post). In this monthly hop group, we are proud to be showcasing a small, independently owned stamp company each month. In Same Set Syndrome, we want to help support these companies in our industry and we hope to introduce you to new manufacturers you haven’t heard of before or perhaps forgot about. Also, to kick it up a notch, we’ll all be working with only 1 or 2 sets or the monthly kit from each company. It will be a ton of fun to see the different styles and variety of cards it is possible to make with one product! And is that isn’t enough, each month there will be a prize picked from all the stops along the hop.  So, to kick off the hop, Joy Clair is our stamp company for the month of June, and the prize for the month is a $25 gift card to JoyClair.com!!! Be sure to leave a comment below and on each stop in the hop to have a chance to win! Joy Clair has a wide variety of stamp styles, surely something for everyone! This time around we actually had several sets to choose from, and being indecisive as I am, I couldn’t pick just one! So, my first project uses a set called Succulent Frame.

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The main image of the set is a stunner, and I really wanted it to shine. I decided to do a simple Oxide blended background and heat emboss the image with Princess Gold EP from Ranger and make this a 1 layer wonder card. There are several sentiments in the set designed to fit in the diamond so I chose one and heat embossed it too. A little bit of sparkle to the florals with clear Wink of Stella and this card is done. Here’s a closer look at that Wink of Stella shine.

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But I wasn’t done playing with this gorgeous set. I picked another sentiment and used all the individual floral stamps to make this next card.

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I kept the floral images tight together around the sentiment, heat set in Princess Gold EP from Ranger, cut it so the images were going off the panel. I used Distress Oxides and brushes to ink blend over the pattern with makeup brushes. I matted the panel on paper that I also heat embossed the edges with the same powder to match. I used a kraft card base and heat embossed a background stamp from Impression Obsession called Woodgrain with the same powder. A thin, sheer ribbon and a little Wink of Stella dressed this card up a little. Check out all that shine! Mental note: leave the card flat longer after adding Wink of Stella or it will drip where you didn’t intend it to go! Ugh!!! Oh well, its homemade, not Hallmark!

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And for a completely different feel, I made yet another card with another Joy Clair stamp set called A Little Wine. This set comes with some really fun images and sentiments!

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How cute is this cat?!? He’s looking like he had one too many and is starting to see double!  I used a stencil from Gina Marie Designs called Chained Hexagons to coordinate with the Spellbinders Octagon die (yeah, we’re going to pretend I used a hexagon die instead of an octagon) I used for the focal image. I ink blended Oxide ink through the stencil on the card base, and through the die for a stenciled look to the focal. The little drunken kitty was watercolored with Tombow markers. I added Nuvo Glaze to the glass and the kitty’s eyes for a little shine. This stamp set comes with several large sentiments and I opted to place it to the side so more of the background would show. I intend this to be a birthday card for a friend approaching a milestone birthday!

Phew! That was a lot, and I feel bad for being a such Hop Hog but I really enjoyed playing with these Joy Clair stamps! Please be sure to visit the amazing Renee Moran at the next stop. I promise you will not regret it!!! And be sure to leave me a comment to have a chance at winning the $25 prize from Joy Clair!

One last photo… if any of you happened to notice a stray dog hair in my photos, this would be why:

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One of my 2 crazy dogs was rolling around on my photo station desperately trying to get her 15 minutes of fame while I was getting today’s photos ready. Sadly the money shot I got of her completely obstructs her face as she was trying to pop the phone out of my hand! Maybe she was just trying to protect her identity. We’re all a little uncomfortable with social media around here at Misplaced Mojo! Despite her fussiness, I know little Willow appreciates when you follow her mommy blog and IG!

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#1stampset1cardhop Instahop!

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 29, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Hop

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Today I’m celebrating with Val from @valzartlounge to celebrate her recent success on Instagram. Valerie came up with a fun challenge for our Instahop… use one stamp set… only one, mind you… and use every single stamp image and sentiment on just one card. The rules stated that you could use only sets 4″x6″ or larger and a set that included both images and sentiments. Then Val cautioned us to choose wisely!!! Given my affinity for Jane’s Doodles stamps, I was determined to find a set of theirs in my collection that fit the bill. When I saw the Jane’s Doodles Cactus set, I knew it would be perfect!

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I stamped off all the images except the 2 tiny embellishment stamps, then got busy watercoloring the images with Tombow markers. One dry, I fussy cut them out and and started playing with my arrangement. There were too any images to use on a standard A2 card, so I decided to try my hand at a slimline card!!! Once I laid out all the images, I knew I needed a couple extras, so I got a couple pots and more cacti ready just like the rest. I used a Tombow marker to make a landing zone for all my beautiful cacti so they weren’t floating in space. I then popped up all the images on foam tape with the center image popped up higher than the rest. I used one of the 2 sentiments for the front, and used the 2 smaller stamps as accents. The final sentiment was added to the inside, and with that, I successfully completed the #1stampset1cardhop challenge! Here’s a closer look at the front and the inside showing the last used stamp of the set.

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Hope you enjoyed this post and I encourage you to check out all of the challenge entries on IG with the #1stampset1cardhop and give some love to the other crafters who stepped up to the challenge! Be sure to start following when you find something you like!!! I would love if you would follow me on IG @misplacedmojo!!!

ETA: 7/31/20 This card was chosen as a Spotlight Winner at A Perfect Time to Craft!!!

MisplacedMojo

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Father’s Day 2020

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 26, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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This year may not be going the way we expected it to at the end of 2019, but you can’t say it hasn’t been interesting! And though we live in strange days, there are still certain customs and rituals we continue on with for the sake of normalcy. This past Sunday was one, Father’s Day in the US. Now my guy isn’t into those occasions he calls Have-To-Holidays. In fact, mine spent the day doing a major landscaping renovation and scoffed  at the idea of kicking back for the day. But what kind of card maker would I be if I didn’t make him a card to celebrate the 19 years he has been an amazing father to our almost as amazing son! So this is what I put together for him, and a similar but different version for my own father (not pictured because I was already late getting it in the mail to get it to him on time). Here you can see how the 2 backgrounds started out different:

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Inspired by so many cards using scraps all over blogland, I started with 4.25 x 5.5″ sheets of copy paper, to which I added lots of tape runner. I cut strips of scraps to half an inch wide and just picked a place on each one to start. This was a different color combo than I have done for either of the dads, so it was a nice change from their favorite colors which have been repeated annually for so long. Once I filled the whole piece of copy paper, I die cut the panels down with a Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle die, which allowed a bit of the white card base to show. Lacking good Father’s Day sentiments, I created my own in Silhouette Studios, cut it 6 times, and the sentiments 3 times for each of the 2 cards. I love the dimension it provided, and I know my hubby noticed the effect. My dad is going on 84, so I’m just happy he noticed the card!!! LOL

Guy cards are hard, cause we feel like the cards need bling or sparkle or *something*… but they truly appreciate a CAS, no nonsense, manly piece of art made by you… especially if it doesn’t have anything glittery. *Sigh* Boring, but ok… cause I love you. More than words can ever say or a piece of cardstock with a fold in it could ever show. Thanks for being my partner in parenthood and in life. Love you Dave!

MisplacedMojo

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Collected Crafty Collabs June Hop!

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 25, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Hop

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I’m so excited to tell you about a new monthly Hop group I’m in! I started the Collected Crafty Collabs hop group with 3 dear friends of mine: Anna Mahtani, Marie Bingaman, and Virginia Fairchild, and we have affectionately been calling ourselves the Squirrel Sisters! Not only do we each love the little critters, we are seriously sidetracked by any little thing! And like squirrels, we have collected a little hoard of nuts, er… stash of crafty supplies and its time to dig them out and give them some love! Since forming the group we’ve had some talented artists join us to make this a hop you won’t want to miss. Every month, the hop will be inspired by a prompt or theme, along with a supply type. We can use either just theme, just the supply, or for a real challenge, use both! So check out my projects (yes, two!!!) and hop along with us to see what the rest of the group created with the prompt. And along the way, if you enjoy a post please consider subscribing to their blog! Take a look at the first card:

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Some consider me an overachiever for making 2 cards, and while that can be true sometimes, this time I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to do or which card to use! For the debut hop of the Collected Crafty Collabs, I couldn’t help but use squirrels for my images!!! Not only did I use both a Critter and a stencil, I did a ton of masking! This design is not for the faint of heart, and it took so long that I tried to save time with the coloring and instead messed it up with the coloring method. While I watercolor with Tombows all the time, I do so on Bristol paper, but I prepped this one layer wonder on a standard card base thinking I would have time for pencils or alcohol markers. I’m still happy with how all the stamping and masking turned out and how many squirrels I manged to get on one card! The squirrels are from a Poppy Stamps set called Cover Squirrel and the stencil is Simon Says Stamps Grassy, inked in 3 shades of Distress Oxides. The speech bubbles are from Lawn Fawn A Birdie Told Me. I would love to claim this idea as my own, but I was totally inspired by Eloise Blue and her card here. OK, ready for the next one?

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This card was so much faster to make! The background is made with 4 colors of Distress Oxides and the stencil used is called Patterned Leaf by Gina Marie Designs. For my image, I actually remembered to use Bristol paper for Tombow watercoloring this sweet image, and coordinating sentiment, both from the My Favorite Things set aptly named Squirrel! I used stitched dies from Simon Says Stamps for the card front and focal layer. A little more ink blending and popping up my squirrel buddy on foam tape, and this one was done. I feel like it needs some bling or epoxy dots, but the card is for a guy and I resisted adding any distractions.

I’m eager to see what the rest of the group did with this month’s prompt, and I know you will be blown away by their talent. Many are design team members for brands or sites and will be familiar faces, but there is new talent to be discovered as well, so check out the full line up below and enjoy your trip around our crafty blogland! Thanks for stopping by, and if you are new here following the hop from a different starting point, please consider subscribing to my blog and checking me out on Instagram!

Karen Page – YOU ARE HERE
Charlotte E (Lady Joyful) 
Boryana Yankova
Lounon Riviere
Yvette Olea (Yvette Olea Creates)
Lee Ann McKinney
Natasha Davies
Martha Lucia Gomez
Mary Ellen Driggs
Tracy Shultz
Marie Bingaman
Donna Perisic (Creative Pixie Designs)
Virginia Fairchild
Katy Ingram (eastwickpaperandink)
Teresa Russell
Danielle Brown
Lisa Wolfe
Anna Mahtani
Sam McLean
Valerie Powell

MisplacedMojo

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Jane’s Doodles Guest Designer for Challenge #13

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 24, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

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My friends, I am honored and humbled to be the Guest Designer for my favorite stamp company, Jane’s Doodles! My Under the Sea card for Challenge #11 Stenciling won on the Jane’s Doodles Challenge blog, and I was asked to Guest DT for Challenge #13, which is On The Beach! I can’t even tell you how excited I am and I’m dying to show you what I came up with!

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I chose to use the Jane’s Doodles set called Summer Icons for this card. With the help of a couple dies in my stash and some cool embossing powder I was able to create this dimensional beach scene! There are so many fun images in this set that you can create many cards and make not just scenes but fun backgrounds too. If you have been following me, you may remember this colorful, rainbowy card I made using just the bikini from the set and a sentiment. Seriously, this set is awesome! For today’s card, I chose to watercolor the images with my trusty Tombow markers and fussy cut them out. The sand layers were heat embossed with a cool multicolored embossing powder that looks like textured sand. I used one of the sentiments for the front of the card to finish it off. Here is a close up view of the front. Check out the texture of the sand!

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Now, there were so many images I wanted to use that I just couldn’t squeeze them all onto the front of the card, so I carried the scene over to the inside!

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I really hope you liked my card today and that you will head over to the Jane’s Doodles Challenge blog to see what the extremely talented, official DT came up with for this theme! I want to thank Jane’s Doodles for offering this opportunity to me! Have a fabulous day everyone!!!

MisplacedMojo

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Celebrate with JDS – June Mid-Month reminder

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 19, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

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Hello, my crafty friends! I’m popping in with a fun card to remind you that the June challenge is still going strong at Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge where its always Anything Goes. And I mean absolutely anything… papercrafting, sewing, jewelry, sculpture, baking, you name it! If you made it, submit it and see if you will be one of the lucky winners. Each month there are 2 draws: 1 for entries using a JDS set, and another random draw from all the entries, so if you use a JDS image you have 2 chances to win! Just make sure you are a follower in order to win!

So today’s card showcases a new set from Jan’s Digi Stamps called Independence Day Friends. The set comes with both b/w and pre-colored images. I used several of the colored images to create my little scene. I like that the fireworks are separate so you can choose to use them any way you want. The sets also come with multiple sentiments, however for my purposes I chose to use a sentiment from my stash instead. I die cut the printed image into a rectangle and stamped directly over the corner of the image. For my card base, I chose some patterned paper from my stash and cut it to show a thin white border of my card base. I popped the image on top at a jaunty angle like a photograph. I added a little sparkle and bling, and the card was done! Here’s another look:

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This set features characters called Eunice and Gertrude. Jan has several themed sets with these 2 lovely ladies. If you like this one you should check out the rest. You should also pop over to the challenge blog to see what the rest of the team made for today, and to submit a creation of your own to the challenge! I’d love to see what creative things you have been up to! Thanks for coming by today. I’ll be back before you know it!

MisplacedMojo

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Impression Obsession – Life is Gourd

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 10, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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The current challenge at Impression Obsession is called On the Farm, and I immediately knew which IO set I owned that I wanted to use for this. These images and sentiment are from a set called Gourdous, which I think is so fun! I fell in love with this farm truck and I like that you could use this with so many of the little images that come in sets like hearts, presents, even snowflakes… or in my case, the gourds that are included in this same set. I created a mask for the truck to tuck the gourds inside and a mask of some of the gourds so I could make it look like some were behind the others. Here’s another view:

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This image was super quick to watercolor with Tombow markers. BTW, I’m so pleased with the order I made a week or so ago from Marker Universe. The Tombows I ordered arrived quickly and I had no issues with missing items or dry markers. I still need to complete my swatch sheets but I did test each marker to make sure it was juicy. It was so much fun to play with the new assortment of colors and I now have the full set. Tombow markers blend out really well when used on bristol paper which is smooth and can handle the water. While not as durable as watercolor paper, its smoothness lends itself to stamping well, and the pigment of the markers doesn’t stain and leave streaks.

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I’m feeling a bit like a farmer myself, finally starting to harvest food from my little victory garden I started after Covid when the food supply looked unstable. I’m still a couple weeks out from peak season, but its been nice to reap some of the benefits from all the work we put into it so far. I’ve already harvested some tomatoes and pretty soon I’ll be up to my eyeballs in squash!!! Gourdous!

ETA: 6/22/20 This card was chosen as the winner at The Paper Girls *AND* I was asked to be a GDT for their next challenge!!!

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ETA: 8/10/20 This card was also picked as the Top Scribbler at Scribbles Designs!!! The prize is $10 in digi images! Whoo-hoo!

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MisplacedMojo

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Art Impressions – Doggy Kisses

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 8, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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Have friends that are stressing out with everything happening in the world right now? This card is just the thing to make them feel better, if only for a moment. This image comes from a great set called Doggy Kisses, with adorable doggy images and sentiments to wish your loved ones well, whether they are under the weather or feel like they are under a dark rain cloud. This card set is perfect for my friend who has been stressed out, and her mom who recently had surgery. And AI’s challenge for this month is Animals & Nature, so these fit the theme perfectly. I’m always happy when I can pair a need for a card with a current challenge!!! And you gotta love when a stamp set makes it so easy to make one layer cards!

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First up is the card for my friend. This sentiment doesn’t tell her to feel better, doesn’t say to cheer up… just acknowledges that life kinda sucks right now and let’s her know I’m here to just listen and commiserate. Sometimes telling someone that things aren’t that bad, or that it will be better soon, just isn’t what they need. And who wouldn’t feel just a tad better with this sweet doggy in slippers who just wants to stay in bed? He’s been watercolored with Tombow markers, as has the shadow below him.

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Next up is this sweet weiner dog is bandages! Isn’t this perfect for a post op card?!? I love the pun of the sentiment with this image!!! He’s also watercolored with Tombow markers. I love how they don’t bleed through the paper. I’m hoping this brings a smile to my surrogate Mom’s face. She’s been a real trooper… since Covid, patients having surgery cannot have visitors. She’s not only been through a lengthy hospitalization alone, but after surgery was sent to rehab for weeks… and you guessed it, no visitors allowed there either. The rehab is wing of a senior living center, so its more locked down than Fort Knox. Hoping she continues to recover quickly and we can get her home and surrounded by the people who care about her. In the meantime, I’m hoping this card reminds her that we would visit if we could!

I hope you have someone in your life who will agree with you that life sucks sometimes… but remember if they are trying to find a bright side or show you some hope that they do so in love because they hate to see you upset. Its not that they aren’t good listeners. Stay strong, my crafty friends!

ETA: 6/12 This card was 1 of 3 FRIDAY FAVORITES at CAS on Friday!!! Favorite Friday

ETA: 6/20 This card was chosen in the TOP 3 at Inkspirational!!! ink top pick

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Jane’s Doodles Challenge #11 – Birthday Flowers

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 7, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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Today I’m playing along with the current challenge over at Jane’s Doodles, which is all about birthdays. I chose to play with the Jane’s Doodles set called Daisies and came up with a couple cards… one more simple and the other stepped up a bit. Let’s talk about the simple one first.

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Using the main image of the set and the birthday sentiment from the same set, I stamped them both in Versamark and heat emboss in Wow! Rose Gold embossing powder. I trimmed the panel to allow a wide white border. Before adhering to my card base, I used makeup brushes to ink blend 4 colors of Distress Oxide: Squeezed Lemonade, Carved Pumpkin, Abandoned Coral, and Festive Berries. I stamped another couple images from the set on the inside and then gave them a light ink blending with the same shades. In addition to the inside, I also decided to make a matching envelope. Take a look!

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Now onto the stepped up version. I stamped the same image and sentiment in the same placement, and heat embossed this one in Ranger Gold embossing powder. This time I die cut the panel with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Square die. I ink blended with more Distress Oxides in Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, and Cracked Pistachio. I used the same rose gold embossing powder to embossing the very edges of the panel. Then I dry embossed a panel with an embossing folder by Die’Sire aptly called Happy Birthday. While still in the embossing folder, I used my hard brayer to ink up the raised areas with the Cracked Pistachio and Squeezed Lemonade, and added a light blending along the edges with the makeup brushes.

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Like the first card, I added the same images on the inside along with the ink blending, and decorated the envelope too.

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So which do you like better? I’m partial to the warm color combo but I prefer the stepped up version. If I had more time I would make the stepped up in the warm tones, but I have so much else coming up that I couldn’t play with that combo right now, but you may see me try it out in the future. I’ll be back before you know it with a card featuring another of my favorite stamp manufacturers!

ETA: 6/13 This card was selected as a TOP ROCKER by 613 Avenue Create!!!

Top Rocker

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June DT post for Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 1, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

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First day of the month… wait, how did we get to June already?!? What the… ??? Well, June it is. Can’t fight it, so we might as well run with it, eh? So when I think of June, I think of Father’s Day, summer, no school, and camping! We spent a lot of time in a tiny camper when I was little, but those memories encouraged me to get a camper for my own family to recreate some of those memories for my son! I thought this card and the combination of images and sentiment is perfect for my dad who is responsible for my love of camping!

The Adirondack chairs and fire pit are from a new set from Jan’s Digi Stamps called Alone Together, and the sentiment is from another new JDS stamp set called #1 Dad which comes with a bunch of images as well. I love combining sets to get just what you need! In case you didn’t know, Jan’s Digi Stamp sets come with both b/w and pre-colored versions. Jan’s colored images are better than anything I can create but this time I opted for the b/w version to customize it. I arranged and printed the images and sentiment so it would print together but you could print the sentiment separately and die cut it to pop up on top. I watercolored the images and background with Tombow markers. The red plaid was made with cardstock and a fun background stamp from My Favorite Things called All Lined Up. The focal panel was die cut with my favorite Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die and that was it! I mounted the plaid paper and image on a black card base and added a white panel inside so I could write Happy Father’s Day to my 83 year old dad.

Now, Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge is a truly Anything Goes challenge… if you made it, enter it! Banana bread? Yes! Quilting? Absolutely! Papercrafts, jewelry, sculpting, you name it! You don’t have to use a JDS stamp, or even a stamp at all! That said, there are 2 draws for a winner and prize. 1 winner is selected from the entries using JDS stamps and 1 more winner is chosen from all the entries, so you have an extra chance to win if you use a JDS stamp! Head over to the challenge blog to enter and see what the rest of the team created! And pop over to the JDS store to see all the great sets Jan has created! Have a great day, my friends!!!

ETA: 6/9 This card made the Top 3 at the Creative Craft Cottage!!!  And it also made the Top 3 at Digi Chooseday!!!

ETA: 6/17 This card also made TOP 3 at Createful Heart Cards!!!

top3DC Challenge Winner Badge

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June DT post with 2CCC and LOTV

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on June 1, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

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Lili of the Valley, the June sponsor of 2 Crafty Critter Crazies, has so many adorable images that you can develop decision fatigue trying not to buy the whole store! Imagine my dilemma trying to pick *just one* to feature for today’s post!!! This sweet little set of 2 images aptly called 2 Little Bunnies was super fun to watercolor with my Tombow markers. (Side note: I just ordered more Tombow markers to complete my collection from Marker Universe during their Memorial Day sale. I can’t wait to get them!!! I totally have Full Set Syndrome, and it was a no brainer to get the remaining colors based on how frequently I use them to color.) Where was I? Oh yes, if you have followed me for any length of time, you know I am slowly plugging away at using up my 6×6 patterned paper in my stash. This card is no exception, however when I printed the digi out large enough to color up all the little details it left room for only 1 patterned paper. The stitched rounded rectangle die is from Pink & Main and the sentiment is from the Jane’s Doodles Cactus set. Here is a closeup:

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The challenge at 2CCC is always Anything Critters Goes, so head over and share with us the next animal card you create! Bugs and birds count too! And images can be cute, realistic, silhouette, or anywhere in between! I’d love also if you would pop over to 2CCC to see what the rest of the DT made this month with their choice of LOTV images!

ETA: 6/30 This card was selected as a Special Mention Winner by Classic Design Challenge!

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Jane’s Doodles Challenge #10 Stenciling

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on May 24, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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Hello, my crafty friends! I told you yesterday that I’m on a critter card roll and here is yet another! I *love* how this turned out!!! I used the complete set of Jane’s Doodles Under the Sea stamp set to create this square card. The stenciling was done using MFT’s Ray of Light stencil and white pigment ink over royal blue cardstock. The images were watercolored with Tombow markers and fussy cut. The stitched hill of sand was die cut with a die from the Creek Bank Creations set called Land and Grass Edge dies. I used a combination of inks, shimmer sprays, and white gel pen to dot the sand to resemble texture and shells. I stamped the sentiment and used an old Spellbinders label die (exclusive to ScrapMart, back in the day) to cut it out. I liked how it fit the center justified sentiment. I glued some images down flat, and others popped up with foam tape… but I wanted the crab to take center stage so I put him on with a mini Action Wobbler! I tried to get a picture of him moving! (Boy is that hard!!!) I used the last of the images and the other sentiment for the inside of the card. In hindsight, I wish I had stenciled the inside with a light blue ink, but this leaves me plenty of room to write a message without distraction.

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Jane’s Doodles is probably my favorite stamp company right now. I love how cute her critters are and she even has gorgeous florals too. I think you’ll be seeing another JD card soon!!! I’d love to know if you love Jane’s Doodles as much as I do, or if they are a new-to-you stamp company. Leave me a comment and let me know. 😊 Hope you are having a great weekend, everyone!

ETA: 6/3 This card was the winner at Jane’s Doodles Challenge and I was asked to Guest DT for an upcoming challenge!!! Squeal!!!!!  It was also chosen as a DT Honourable Addict by Addicted to Stamps & More (ATSM)!!!

challengeWinner honourable addict

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HB to One Fabulous Chick with Art Impressions

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on May 23, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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I’ve been having fun using this 2018 set from Art Impressions called Spring Chicken. You might remember the last card I made with it HERE. This time, I’m using this trio of chicks all dressed up and ready to party! I thought this would be a great image to use for the current AI challenge theme All Layered Up! I watercolored this image with Tombow Markers and added white and black gel pens to their eyes. I watercolored the chicks first, then picked patterned paper from my stash before coordinating the colors on the balloon, cupcake and hats. The focal die cut was a magazine freebie called Layered Frames from Papercraft Inspirations Magazine. I used a MFT sentiment from The Whole Herd for the front, and used 2 sentiments from the AI Spring Chicken set for the inside. I think they worked so well together!

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That’s it for me today but I’ll be back soon. If you like critter cards, I think you will really enjoy the next few projects!!! Stay tuned!

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May Mid-Challenge Post for JDS

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on May 19, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Design Team

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Today I’m here to remind you that the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge blog is mid way through the May Anything Goes challenge. You still have until the end of the month to submit your entries! Remember you can enter up to 5 times, and it is a truly Anything Goes challenge… your project can be anything including baking, sewing, quilting, home decor, and of course papercrafting. Anything!

I decided to make a card using Pansies for Mom from Jan’s Digi Stamps as the images are just so pretty. The set comes with both b/w images and precolored. While the precolored version is gorgeous, I wanted to use my Prismacolor pencils to color these pansies to match the blue pansies we use to have when I lived in Florida. I tried to find a picture of what they look like in real life. I really remembered the centers being dark, but this picture below is probably more accurate. Too bad I didn’t find this before coloring the image!!! LOL Well, at least I like how the image turned out, and it shows that you don’t have to color them accurately to have it come out pretty! I used ancient patterned paper from my stash and navy, corrugated paper for an element of the sketch, which is from Stick it Down’s May challenge.

Blue Pansy Photograph - Blue Pansy by Kaye Menner

Head over to Jan’s Digi Stamp Challenge to see what the rest of the DT made for the mid-month post and to submit your own entries!

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CASE the Fellow Creator Hop

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on May 17, 2020 in Cards, Challenges, Hop

I’m so excited to be part of another amazing Hop with Courtney Kreeber’s Facebook group called Handmade Happiness! We picked another crafter within the group to CASE, and that person selected someone else. In the event you are new to the acronym, CASE means Copy And Share Everything, which means you use another person’s creation as your starting point and give them credit for their original work. Sometimes you can keep it all the same, or put your own flare and design into it making an entirely new creation. I’m being CASE’d by the wonderful Virginia Fairchild, whose post you can find on Instagram or at PassionsAndDistractions. When you are done here, please pop over to see which card of mine Virginia chose to CASE and how she put her individual spin on it!!! (I’m so excited to see it myself!)

For my CASE, I chose the amazing Anna Mahtani who blogs at CraftyAnnaStudio. I was immediately drawn by her beautiful watercoloring and her knack for creating great card designs. A couple cards really spoke to me as both designs I would like to CASE and techniques I wanted to use. I couldn’t decide between the 2 so I CASE’d them both, cause I’m an overachiever like that! LOL (My family would attest that statement is SO not true… unless it involves crafting!!!). Because I mentioned Anna’s amazing watercoloring, I’ll share this card first! Anna’s stunning floral is on the left and mine is one the right.

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Isn’t her photography amazing too?!? Her project is featured in an awesome post she did called Five Simple Techniques Using Watercolor Pencils. I didn’t have the same stamp, but I had a similar bouquet from the same manufacturer, Dahlia by WPlus9. I used Derwent watercolor pencils to color my image, using some of the techniques she outlined in her post and was very pleased with the results! I hadn’t use my pencils in *forever*, and her post was just what I needed to dust off the rustiness! I altered my color combo to suit my set of pencils, but I loved the soft yellow wash of color around the bouquet and *had* to use that too. I kept the layout very similar, and since I didn’t have a label like sentiment I copied the look by stamping in Versamark on black and heat embossing in white. The sentiment is from Jane’s Doodles All Occasions sentiment set. Like Anna, I chose not to add embellishments so the floral could be the focus, but I did spatter the card front as I loved the look on Anna’s card. Here’s a closeup:

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Ready for something completely different? As I browsed Anna’s great website, one card really stuck out as being different. This may not be Anna’s typical style, but I fell in love with the card and the technique and HAD to CASE it! Again, Anna’s gorgeous card is on the left and mine is on the right.

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Isn’t that freaking awesome?!? Her card is featured in her post Multicolored Embossing Technique for Backgrounds. I actually swooned when I saw this card and immediately knew I had to use this to make an anniversary card for my hubby. Again, I lacked the same stamp but found a masculine background stamp in my stash that I thought would work great for the technique and picked a background stamp called Cogs by Impression Obsession. Since I was using gears, I didn’t want to have 3 defined areas of color, so I sprinkled the embossing powders selectively over the design. I think I like Anna’s technique better as she had more contrast between the colors and with my sprinkling caused them to mix and blend more, causing more of a rusty effect. It’s yet another cool technique, but it just wasn’t as swoon worthy. I keep my design as similar as possible given my supplies and the need I had for my card. I used silver mirror cardstock for my frame and sentiment instead of gold. My sentiment didn’t have a shadow layer, so I die cut a vellum gear to be my base layer. Because it was so much bigger than the sentiment itself, I chose thinner vellum for its translucency. The “love you” is a Momenta die and the “DUDE” is from We R Memory Keepers High Rise Alpha dies. The sub-sentiment is from Pink & Main’s True Love stamp set. Again, I have to give Anna props on her photography… man was all that shininess hard to photograph!!! Here is another shot, just to give you both views!

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Yeah, just doesn’t have the oomph that Anna’s did, but the hubby did love it, so that is all that really matters. Love that man, though I showed him Anna’s card and explained the whole CASE thing and about a minute in his eyes were completely glassed over and I was talking to myself! LOL I would be upset but the same thing happens to me when he starts talking woodworking!!! Ha!

Here’s your homework: First you need to see what Virginia did to CASE me (especially since I think my style is ALL over the place! Then, you need to see who Anna picked to CASE cause I am sure it turned out amazing!!! From there, if you have time, continue on the hop or search #casethefellowcreator. Some are blogs, most are YouTube videos, and a couple Instagram posts. A little variety to keep it fun! Leave me a comment and tell me how you think I did with my CASE too! Thanks for dropping by!!!

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Jane’s Doodles Challenge #9 – You’re Purr-fect

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on May 12, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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I have another card to share with you made with the Cats stamp set from Jane’s Doodles. I used  another piece of the patterned paper left over from the first card I made for this challenge. This time I used another of the 4 cats in the set, which I watercolored with Tombow markers and fussy cut, along with some of the accessory images. I die cut a scalloped circle die from Spellbinders, determined my image placement and stamped one of the sentiments from the Cats stamp set. I also add a shadow to help ground my image. The focal point seemed to be missing something, so I added Distress Stickles in Brushed Corduroy and a banner strip to match under the focal die cut to further help ground the image. These kitties are a ton of fun to play with. I colored a couple others, now we just have to see if there is time to pull together another card in time for the challenge!

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Jane’s Doodles Challenge #9 – Animals

Posted by Karen @ MisplacedMojo.com on May 11, 2020 in Cards, Challenges

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I had some fun today playing around with the Cats stamp set from Jane’s Doodles and this is the first card I made though I spent quite some time playing with the set. There are 4 different cats in the set, along with several accessories. I knew I had some cat patterned paper from DCWV, so I dug that out first. I stamped the kitty, watercolored him with Tombow markers to match the patterned paper and fussy cut it out. I popped him up on a turquoise die cut stitched circle from Simon Says Stamp which I ink blended a darker turquoise ink (from Impression Obsession) in the center to ground him. I stamped a sentiment from the same set and die cut it with a smaller stitched circle from SSS. After mounting the paper on a kraft card base, I decided it needed another pop of turquoise so I cut thin strips to add to either side. A quick dig through my sequin stash turned up the perfect shade mini sequin. I added a few final touches… black Glaze pen on the kitty’s eye, Spectrum Noir clear sparkle brush on the nose, heart, and yarn balls in the paper, and finally Nuvo Crystal Glaze over the nose and heart for shine! I decorated the inside with a strip of the patterned paper and fish image from the set. The inside is stamped with Birthday Wishes from the Jane’s Doodles All Occasions stamp set.

Stay tuned over this coming week as I play with the rest of the images in the set!

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