Trying to get my MOJO back!

It's been over two weeks now that I just can't seem to get my scrapping MOJO to cooperate with me. The last several layouts that I've done I've been less than pleased with and its starting to really bother me. It's probably due to the fact that the last couple weeks have been really stressful for me at work and I just can't seem to turn my work brain off and my creative brain on. The above layout is the ONE exception to this. I DO like this one BUT the problem here is that this single layout took me over 3 days to complete! WHAT?!?! Those who know me, even just by my blog, know that I am a fairly quick scrapper and its not unusual for me to crank out 5-6 layouts a day when my groove is there! So for this one layout to take 3 days is just beyond!! I didn't use a sketch or challenge for this one because honestly, it was too much work for me to try to incorporate any challenges onto this layout! In fact I did most of it sitting on the couch watching TV which is about all I could muster! I used the Imaginisce Splash Dance papers, Making Memories bling title and the little seascape at the bottom which is my favorite part is Imaginisce Glass Stickers and I LOVE how they look! I hope they use them again in other lines!! The wave border I cut from a scrap on the Cricut and the seagrass I cut by hand. I used to do scenese like these on lots of layouts so it was kinda neat to go back to my old ways of scrapping before the Cricut and fancy store bought embellishments.

So I have today off from work and while I usually stay up late on Thursday nights and scrap, last night I still couldn't get the inspiration going so instead I browsed through some blogs and made a sort of game plan for today! First up...Design Dollies. I couldn't quite make the Trifecta this time (the third part would have required this layout to draw inspiration from a Vintage/Classic movie and there was just nothing there for me!!). I did make an Exacta though! I used the weekly sketch as well as the Color Challenge which was brown, teal, cream and a pop of red. I am not thrilled with this layout but I think it has to do with the photos. Neither John nor I look particularly good in them....in fact, I look AWFUL....but I paid to have the photos printed and dammit I'm scrapping them. The funny thing is these are from Antigua but this layout has exactly ZERO tropical feel to it so its not even going in the Antigua album.

I also managed to qualify for the challenge over at Practical Scrappers which was to use product that you have had for at least one year. That makes up most of this layout! I used scraps from one of Pink Paislee's very first lines, Spring Fling as well as the teal from Basic Grey Lime Rickey, the brown from an old SEI kit and the red glitter stickers I've also had forever and they are from Making Memories. The stickpin and ribbon have been in my stash a while but maybe not a year! I think I'm going to take some time and have another cup of coffee and try to relax my brain a little and then hopefully be back with more layouts today! And hopefully I will LIKE them!

PS - I tried 3 times to get a decent photo of this one and each one made it look all crooked. It doesn't look this way in real life!