Caffeinated Christmas Guest Designer

I'm delighted to be one of the July Guest Designers for the Caffeinated Christmas Challenge.  This month's theme is Stars to use with coffee, tea or cocoa.  Don't forget, we want to see a Christmas card, not just one for winter.

I had so much fun stamping the background for my coffee cup that is probably filled with a peppermint mocha!  The stamp sets I used are all from Precious Remembrance Shop & the inks are Memento.  

I stamped the tree from Oh Christmas in Cottage Ivy, the date from Sketchy Christmas & dots from Fall Colors in Rhubarb Stalk and the sentiment from Oh Christmas in Rich Cocoa.  Then I embossed the panel with Tim Holtz Tiny Stars Texture Fade folder.  The travel cup from Coffee Love was stamped in Espresso Truffle & then Versamark so I could use clear embossing powder.  I colored it with Copics G07 & R29, purposely not blending away the horizontal lines.  The top was colored with Rich Cocoa & the image was fussy cut.  The big star from CAS-ual Fridays & the little stars from Jillibean Soup were colored with the Copics.  I added an extra cardstock layer behind the cup & inked the card front with Espresso Truffle.  Always good to have another Christmas card ready ahead of time!  Hope you'll join the challenge which is sponsored by A Colorful Life Designs. 

Edited to add: I'm entering Inkspirational's Christmas in July challenge, SSS Wednesday & WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Stars & a Wreath

The November challenge at Twofers is Stars.  Took awhile, but eventually I had an idea for a Christmas card & then for a friendship card.  

The Christmas card began by stamping Stampendous Manger Scene (minus the star) in VersaMagic Aegean Blue & clear embossed.  Then I brushed on Distress Inks & splattered with water.  The sentiment from AJVD was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn & clear embossed.  Then I die cut the scene with the manger in the center of the CAS-ual Fridays star die.  The star was attached to fun foam before it was glued back in place.  I finished it off with a scored frame & added Stickles to the halo.

I've always sent a lot of friendship cards, so that's what I made for my second card.   I pulled out an old paper pack with large & small dots. 

The same CAS-ual Fridays star die was used with the large dotted papers & the smallest star in the set was used with the small dotted papers. The small stars were attached to fun foam, covered with Stickles & glued to the big star centers. I black embossed an old HA sentiment to the black panel before gluing on the stars.  

I also made a card for the November PFS Monthly challenge.  I love the Delicate Wreath stamp set & had fun inking it up with Distress Inks in 2 shades of purple & 2 shades of blue. 

The stamp was in my Mini MISTI so I could add some ink, spritz & stamp multiple times until I was happy.  The sentiment from the same set was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I added purple, blue & gold splatters.  

Ribbon used to be on most of my cards, but now I seldom use it because of the added postage cost.  Worth it sometimes & this beautiful gold ribbon was just what the card needed.  Finished off with dots of Champagne Stickles on the wreath & a thin black mat.  I'm also entering WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Tags with a Feminine Twist

So many fun events in Blogland for the holidays.  One of them is 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist at Ellen Hutson's Blog.  Still trying to get Christmas cards signed & mailed, but I have made a couple tags.  The Day 1 challenge is 3D Die Cuts.  Jennifer McGuire's tags totally inspired me as I had several CAS-ual Fridays die cut bells on my table & had been debating whether or not to try the technique. 

I brushed 4 of them with a white metallic watercolor & attached the beautiful pinkish purple glitter Washi tape which definitely makes this a feminine tag!  I followed Jennifer's tutorial--fun & easy technique.  I used crochet thread through the holes at the top of the bells to give a finished look.  The Poppystamps Tunnel Tag was die cut from gray textured cardstock.  I stamped the AJVD sentiment on a white cardstock scrap, ran it through with the die & glued it on below the bells.  I'm also entering DRU (Sentiment: I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas), HLS Christmas Challenge, SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday.

My next tag was inspired by Julie's felt tree tag for the Day 3 Challenge: Naturally Neutral.  I love her color combo of kraft, white & black, so that's what I used.  However, I switched it around to a white tag & a kraft tree. 

The tag is made with AJVD Polka Dot Backdrop Rectangle & the tree is Impression Obsession.  The embellishments are a wooden star covered with Pale Gold Nuvo drops & little pearls also done with the drops.  It was a bit tricky using the drops on felt. 

I attached the kraft felt tree to one cut from white cardstock, slightly offset to hint at snow.  The sentiment is AJVD & I added little dots of Frosted Lace Stickles.  For an extra feminine touch I used some beautiful lace across the bottom before adding the black & white twine.  I'll probably turn this one into a card--really love how it turned out.  I'm also entering DRU (Silent Night),  HLS Christmas Challenge, SSS Wednesday, Die Cut Divas & Word Art Wednesday.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Warm Cards

I missed the last Coffee Lover's Blog Hop, but had to make something for the current Fall challenge as I just got Stamplorations Coffee for all Seasons. 

Very simple card & a smaller size--perfect for a coffee gift card.  I tied on some twine & added a brown pearl over the knot.  Fun to find a matching sequin from a mixed pack I got last year.  Hard to tell, but there is a gorgeous shimmer from spritzing heavily with gold perfect pearls. 

I'm also entering Stamplorations Theme, Stamplorations Never-Ending Anything Goes, Allsorts & SSS Wednesday.

Next is my entry for ABNH.  The collaboration company for the month is CAS-ual Fridays & I immediately knew I wanted to use the wheat image from CFS Amber Waves.  I won the set years ago, but had only used one of the sentiments. 

Hero Arts Envelope Pattern was lightly stamped on the front of the kraft card--needed to be darker.  The wheat was gold embossed & then I used my Mini MISTI to stamp the Hero Arts sentiment multiple times.  This is the first time I've done double embossing--a bit tricky with a sentiment, but the MISTI made it possible.  I finished off with splatters of Distress Stain tarnished brass.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Christmas in July

Christmas in July has always been popular with me.  When I was a kid at summer camp I got our cabin to pick that theme for the cabin decorating contest--can't remember if we won! This year there are lots of blog features & challenges with the theme, so more to come.  Actually, I made a Christmas card for last week's PTI MIM challenge & here's my entry for PTI CAWU.  I really loved Laurie's black, white & gold card & was inspired by the gold on white die cuts, gold frame & contrasting card.  

As you can see, I used Pure Poppy cardstock instead of black. The die cuts from Spruce & Sprigs are stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz--my favorite gold ink.  I made the frame with AJVD Polka Dot Backdrop rectangles & sponged with gold. The sentiment from Botanical Blocks IV is gold embossed & I couldn't resist adding a few small PPP gold sequins. The panel is mounted with fun foam to the card front, so will need a bit of extra postage. I'm also entering HLS Christmas challenge, Die Cut Divas & Word Art Wednesday.

Next is my first card using a brand new die from CASual Fridays.  Haven't been letting myself buy new stamps or dies, but couldn't resist the bell dies in the retirement sale.  I didn't have any bell dies, so that's my justification--haha!  

So fun to use the shape of an object for a shaker window & I tried out Stephanie's technique of stacked layers instead of foam--great when the opening doesn't have straight lines.  The shaker mix is white seed beads & Stampendous Shaved Ice.  I have 2 Lawn Fawn plaid paper pads that have hardly been used--love the look!  The PPP bow was the perfect size to top the bell & I added an iridescent gem that ties into the mix.  The sentiment from the first card was still in my Mini MISTI & was the right size, so I stamped it several times in DI pine needles which closely matches the cardstock panel.  I'm entering CAS-ual Fridays, CCCB, CropStop, HLS Anything Goes with Dies, SSS Wednesday & Die Cut Divas. I'm slowly catching up on blog reading--thanks for your patience.  Enjoy the weekend!
Edited to add: Joining the Summer Link Up at Merry Monday using #241 (red, green & white) or #240 (bell)--thanks for the suggestion, Linda.