Coffee and Snowflakes

The cup from Stamp Simply's Cup of Java has been waiting to be put on a card.  I die cut both cups in the set from this beautiful paper a long time ago, but only used the larger one.  This cup was perfect for the thank you going to a friend along with a Starbucks card.  

I added glitter glue to the flower centers and used a shimmer pen on the steam and Elizabeth Craft Designs word.  Surprise, surprise--I had pink cardstock to match the little flower! 😊 So proud of myself for thinking of the coffee beans layer in the Miss Ink Stamps Coffee Time stencil set.  It's actually designed to go around all the little cups, but I easily repositioned it several times to get beans where I wanted them behind my cup.  I used a finger dauber with CN9 Ballet Slipper ink.  I'm entering Just Us Girls, SSS Wednesday and Word Art Wednesday.

Lots of people are dealing with snow and ice, but it's just cold and sunny in the PNW.  So, I made paper snowflakes!  I pulled out blue cardstocks I thought went together well and used SSS Snowflake Block die and SSS Fanciful Flurries 3D folder. 

I sprayed the diecut with Lindy's Stamp Gang Fairy Fluff which is beautiful when a light shines on it.  I used a white paint pen to color the tiny dots.  Didn't like the look of adding a sentiment, so I'll just put one inside.  Not sure if this will be a Christmas or winter BD card.  I love the fresh, clean look and decided against embellishments.  I'm entering Color Hues and Inkspirational.

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

Thanksgiving and Christmas

I was intrigued by Brenda's recent card using a real leaf as a "stamp."  Plenty of leaves laying on the ground, so I picked up a few and gave it a try.  My first attempt went in the trash--used way too much water.  I tried again with a smaller leaf and Distress Oxides spiced marmalade and crackling campfire on a cream panel.  

The very old PTI trees were stamped in Versafine Clair Pinecone--a very dark brown.  Added some small splatters and used gold metallic cardstock for the mat.  The sentiment is from SSS Full of Thanks.  I covered the card front with slightly lighter brown textured cardstock.  I'm entering Color Hues and WAW.

I love layering stencils and really had fun using the Miss Ink cups set.  Decided to make a red, teal and silver Christmas card.  

The inks are CN9 Poppy, Oceanside and Delicata Silvery Shimmer.  The little snowflakes and berries are Uniko.  The Precious Remembrance Shop sentiment was embossed with Sparkle powder and I added Stickles to the snowflake centers.  I'll put a Christmas sentiment on the inside.  I'm entering Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.

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

Time Out Challenge #274

Time Out Challenge #274 is a great photo challenge which you can also think of as a theme challenge.  Our blog owner, Nonni, took this picture during a visit to New York City.  Our generous sponsor is Newton's Nook.

You can use any of the words or objects in the photo.  There's lots of inspiration from our GD and my teammates on the blog, along with details about our challenge.

I used just the word "coffee" as inspiration to open my Stamp Simply A Cup of Java die set.  Nonni's card for our last challenge actually gave me the idea to use the coffee cup negative for a shaker--so fun! 

I used a couple sheets of beautiful printed paper I picked up in a close out.  They're more for spring or summer, but I wanted to use some of the beautiful shaker filler given to me by my dear friend, Rosemary.  And besides, it's Spring in the southern hemisphere!  I used PTI Sweet Blush cardstock for the handle and covered it with Nuvo Glaze.  The steam was stacked a couple high and covered with a shimmer pen.  The Mama Elephant sentiment die was cut twice from white cardstock.  I inked the top one with Olive Twist and used the other one as a slight shadow which made it stand out much more from the floral paper.  PTI Olive Twist cardstock was used for the mat.  I don't make many shakers, but this was pretty easy and I love the result.  It's a great way to use printed papers, especially ones that are from the same collection so I know they go together.  

I'm entering SSS Monday Snippets Playground (all scraps except the paper showing through the shaker), DCD and WAW.

Edited to add: SSS WCMD Challenge.

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

Time Out Challenge #256

We're back with a fun photo inspiration for Time Out Challenge #256.  Sarah Gray is a former DT member and the owner of our sponsor, Funky Fossil Design.  All you have to do is make a card inspired by the one Sarah made in the photo below.  In addition to the 25 pound gift certificate to Funky Fossil, the winner gets an invitation to guest design for a future challenge. 

I used a splatters stencil in the background, but mine is coffee splatters instead of paint.  My card is a rectangle, but I basically followed Sarah's layout.  There are lots of ways you can be inspired and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with in the gallery.  Remember, we only allow cards entered in a total of no more than 5 challenges including ours.

I used Lawn Fawn Manatee ink with Tim Holtz Splatters stencil.  The Stampendous sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.The stitched rectangle is MFT, the cups are Trinity Stamps (freebie), the snowflake embossing folder is Darice and the little hearts are AJVD.  

I used a detail brush to add white pigment ink to the snowflakes before covering them and the word Friend with Shimmer Pico Embellisher.  Black enamel dots were just the right finishing touch.  I'm sending this card as a Valentine to a blogging friend, wishing we could meet for coffee.

I'm entering SSS Monday and SSS Wednesday.

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

Couple of Cards

The Caffeinated Christmas Card Snowflake challenge is about to close and I did finally come up with a card.  I messed up stamping the Sweet 'n Sassy Knit Background using white pigment ink on gray cardstock.  Luckily, it was just one spot near the bottom of the panel, so I cut it into a smaller rectangle.  I love the look of wider margins on cards, especially when using smaller images. 

I've had Hero Arts metallic watercolors for a very long time and decided to play around with them.  No luck with trying an artist's technique I saw, so I just painted the red watercolor onto a white scrap.  I'd call it a burgundy red and it has a beautiful shimmer.  My scrap was big enough to die cut Trinity Stamps little cup (a freebie) twice, as well as the Impression Obsession snowflake.  

Luckily there was one edge of the scrap that worked to mat the PTI sentiment.  An old Darice snowflake embossing folder was used for the cups and I added a dot of Shimmer Pico Embellisher to the snowflake centers.  Yay for a nearly flat card ready to mail this Christmas.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground.

Next is a card inspired by a recent one made by my in real life friend, Lin.  She reminded me of the Gina K Video I saved to my favorites two years ago. 

I white embossed a very old wood mounted French script stamp.   It doesn't completely cover the panel, but I actually like the look.   I used Uniko's Flower Power #8 stencil with Distress Oxides Abandoned Coral and Saltwater Taffy.

The sentiment is from Uniko's Simply Said blocks.   Love that enamel dots are flat enough to not need extra postage.   I'm entering Inkspirational and Just Us Girls.

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

Three Cards

My October CCC card went to the UK, so I used my first Alex Syberia (a UK company) stamp/die set called For You.  

The background was made with Lindy's Magicals & the frame is Reverse Confetti.  Since it's Fall, I used more peachy pinks for the 3 layers of the bloom: CN9 Nectar & Grapefruit plus PTI Pale Peony.  The top layer of dots was silver embossed.  Versafine Clair Morning Mist & Lawn Fawn Manatee were used for the stem, leaves & sentiment from the set.

The gallery for Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is about to close.  There are hundreds of entries & now there's one more--haha!  It's not my usual style, but I had fun making it & like the final result.  

I began by stamping Stamplorations Coffee for All Seasons Autumn image 3 times in Versafine Clair Pinecone.  I used the same ink, randomly applied to a Precious Remembrance Shop Fall Colors image--purposely not inking it entirely.  I picked up watered down spiced marmalade & peeled paint Distress Oxides with a piece of acetate & added it to my panel, repeating until I was happy with the look.  I used molding paste through Tim Holtz Splatters stencil, added Stampendous Moonstone ep & heated for a wonderful textured effect.  

The sentiment from SSS Full of Thanks was stamped in the Pinecone ink.  It just needed something more & finally I decided to add the Elizabeth Craft pumpkin diecut brushed with the same DOs.  The edges were darkened with DO vintage photo before adding the panel to a PTI Classic Kraft card base.  

My last card was made for JUGs Color Week: Red & Green.  I like some non-traditional Christmas color combos, but not to the exclusion of red & green.  I'm not one of the people who can never have enough floral images, but I am a sucker for poinsettias.  I keep telling myself I don't need another one.  However, last year I finally gave in & got CN9 Fresh Cut Florals Edition 4 before it was gone for good.  The sprigs that come in the set are beautiful, too. 

I used 2 red shimmer mists & 2 green ones on panels I then die cut.  A recent Altenew order included the Deck Planks embossing folder which I used with a panel of cream cardstock.  I lightly rubbed over the raised areas with a Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad & brushed the edges with DO antique linen.  

The Birch Press sentiment die is a new favorite I'll use over & over.  I cut the words from the same cream cardstock & stacked them 2 high.  The shadow was cut from vellum.  The flower center was covered in Champagne Stickles & I added a TE matte gold enamel dot.  Hopefully the recipient will love this card as much as I do.    

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.  I'm continuing with my post-op shoulder therapy, but am able to function quite well even if I don't gain additional range of motion.  Thanks for all the caring thoughts.

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.