January Blah's

I pull out my crochet hook for a while and do something different. Any chance you can try switching gears for a bit and see if your mojo comes back to you? 

I just play. I will stamp some images and try different colors or blending with my alcohol markers.

I will try blending different inks together on paper to see if something sticks out to be saved.

I play with spray inks and stamps and stencils.

I just play.

I have quite the collection of in progress online classes. When I feel this way, I will find a lesson I haven't tried yet and start playing.

Sometimes I just need Shimelle to tell me what to scrap! 😂 That usually helps me.

If I don't want to scrap or shop I look for inspiration on Pinterest or YouTube, look through my stash, play on my Silhouette and make some basic dies using neutral paper or cardstock, or buy a new cutfile.

Whew! Sounds like you've done everything I would do and more! Thankfully January is almost over.

What if you went outside and captured January in pictures and typed up some journalling about how you feel and make a page? I'm thinking you can let your doldrums inspire you.

The only other suggestion I have is to find one photo you would love to scrap and do it. If you find latwr you don't like it just redo it. I bet you will keep it. Challenge yourself to use 10 elements or
techniques, like inking, washi, 2 or more pattered papers, enamel dots, stickles, there's 5 right there! Then come and share it!

I just saw a thumbnail of a YouTube video the other day with a title like Jump Starting your Mojo, or something along that line. When I saw your thread last night breetheflea, I actually went looking for it. But I am old and now I can't even remember what I was watching in the first place. Sorry.

I find the best thing to spark my creativity is--well--being creative. But not big projects with a specific goal. Like pantsonfire , I PLAY. I will try some different inking or foiling techniques, fool around with different colours and textures. Just a little each day. Until i have relegated the judgy part of me back into the cave it came from and I can go back to putting cards and pages together and having FUN.

Any way you can take the pressure off yourself... Try a photo you love, like myboysnme suggests, out of sequence, not something you HAVE to scrap. Slap on a bunch of layers behind it. Move the whole thing around on your page til it finds a home. Stick it down. Does this page have to have title or journaling? Nope! Not today!

I used to start up after a long break with a Grab, Glue and Go! challenge. Open a container or drawer you haven't opened in awhile. Grab a collection or handful of papers. If you keep your embellies separately, grab a handful of those. Now you have 30 minutes to put SOMETHING together. It might be a page. Or a card. Or a panel for a later page. Whatever it is, you created it. High five! (Works well grabbing a set of stamps and a couple of ink pads, too.)

I take a lot of breaks from it, like maybe not walk in my studio for weeks. I play with mixed media or try a technique just for fun. Most of the time I can fill time by sorting/editing photos. I actually get more scrapping done in the winter months bcz I have more time inside, but I really have a hard time doing anything at night during the week. Lately, I've been reading instead.

Or make a total fluff page just for fun, like with a duplicate photo or not even using a photo, just a story or a list. If you've taken any classes, go back over the material, or notes, sometimes it reminds me of something I want to try.

I totally relate to your washi idea...sometimes I scour the internet for Japanese stationery sources.

I know that feeling! That's me every October > January when it's autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere. The kits are all the same, and definitely not my style, plus it's spring and summer here so I want to see happy and bright products! 

When my mojo has gone walkabout, I go looking for sketches to use, and make templates from them, so I have something ready to go when my mojo returns. I also like to look for layouts that take my fancy. Sometimes finding a great sketch to scraplift is enough to bring my mojo back, sometimes I file it to use later.