Rediscovered Inspiration Journal - Cool Color Combo

While unpacking my craft room, I came across a lot of stuff I forgot I had.  One thing in particular that I was excited to find was an inspiration journal where I had stored pictures from magazines and ads that inspired me in some way.  Paging through the journal, this picture jumped out at me:

I love the colors!  Baja Breeze (a former In-Color that has been brought back by Stampin' Up! and is now part of the core color collections), Crumb Cake (formerly known as Kraft) and Early Espresso (NEW).  I quickly pulled out the ink pads and paper and went to work and here's what I came up with:

 

Here's a card I made with a new Level 1 Hostess Set called Because I Care: 

To get the two-toned flowers, I first inked them with Crumb Cake and then sponged around the edges with Early Espresso. I used the marker to stamp technique on the sentiment. Yes, Baja Breeze now comes in a marker!

These next two cards were actually the first complete cards I made while playing with the color combination.  Notice that I was also inspired by the outfit in the picture for the layout of the cards (pattern on top, Whisper White on the bottom, with an Early Espresso strip separating the two).

This first one uses just stamps (Circle Circus & Because I Care), card stock and ink:

Then I spiced it up a bit with some punches (Scallop Edge Border & Itty Bitty Shapes), Bitty Buttons and Linen Thread:

I love how inspiration is all around us.  Taking the time to cut out a picture or sketching an idea into a journal is a great way to capture those inspirations.  That journal got my creative juices flowing after I had a bit of a stampin' dry spell.  (Moving will do that to ya!)  If you don't already have one, consider starting your own inspiration journal.  It doesn't have to be fancy.  Any old notebook will do.  Of course, you can always decorate it to make it pretty if you want. 

Until then, use my inspiration and get stampin!

Happy Stampin!
Brenda

P.S. Please excuse the funky layout of this post.  I'm getting used to the "new" editing features of Blogger.