Life Happens...Coffee Helps

Hi Everyone!

I'm back today with another card featuring Verve Stamps Coffee Helps set. This time I chose one of my favorite sentiments in this set. Isn't this just so true?! I know some people that don't drink coffee; and that just baffles me! Seriously?! How do you function without coffee? For that matter, how do you parent without coffee?! Now, I'm not one of those drink it all day long; but my 2 cups in the morning are definitely non-negotiable!

I chose a color palette with some earthier and warmer colors for this card: PTI's Dark Chocolate, Melon Berry, Scarlett Jewel and a Summery Yellow. (The yellow should have been PTI's Summer Sunrise; but I don't have any of that at the moment, so I just found a comparable substitute in my 

stash of scraps) I stamped the little coffee cup on to some PTI Vintage Cream card stock with Simon Says Stamp Khaki ink and then used the coordinating diecuts to cut it out. I used some Copic markers to add a little color to the mug and to the foam on top and then adhered that to the 

yellow circle I cut out using my Simon Says Stamp circle dies. I added some texture to the background Melon Berry piece by embossing it with the "Quatrefoil" embossing folder from The Paper Studio. For the sentiment, I stamped it in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with a copper embossing powder from Stampin Up, that I've had for literally over 10 years! I matted the sentiment as shown and then adhered it to the front of the card with a little foam adhesive. Some final details of ribbon, white gel pen and stickles completed the card. 

That is all for me today! Thank you so much for visiting with me again. Have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!

Challenges: 

1. Stampin Royalty: Anything Goes 

2. Through the Purple Haze: Layers

3. Crafting with an Attitude: Anything Goes

Happy Birthday, make a wish!

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far! Mine has been busy but productive as well. I have a simple birthday card to share with you today. I wanted to use some more muted and neutral colors with this design. I chose Iced Spruce distress ink and Green Leaf, and Lipstick Red from Simon Says Stamp for the balloons from Altenew's "Birthday Greetings" stamp set.
I did some masking; and after some trial and error finally got the balloons the way I wanted them. Masking is one of those techniques that admire a lot...but have such a hard time actually doing it!

To coordinate with the the balloons, I chose Kraft for my card base and then Ocean Tide, New Leaf and Pure Poppy from PTI. I added "Happy Birthday" sentiment beneath the balloons in Iced Spruce and then heat embossed the bottom sentiment with versamark and white embossing powder. Finally, I added some simple final details: white gel pen, stickles and some wink of Stella clear glitter pen over the balloons. 

Challenges: 

1. Cards and More:Use Kraft card stock

2. Lemon Shortbread Challenge: Anything Goes

3. Retarte: Anything Goes

4. Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes

5. Little Red Wagon:  Celebrate 

6. Simon Says Stamp: Birthday

That is all for me today. Thanks for visiting with me. I hope you all have a fabulous day and I'll be back on Friday!

Keep Shining

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was good and relaxing, and I even survived driving lessons with my teenage daughter and except for a near run in with a mailbox, she did ok! A few more lessons in empty parking lots may be in order before we get her out of the road with traffic! Still, it's a milestone I've been both dreading and looking forward to as a parent.

Anyhow, I digress. Let's get to today's card, shall we?

I noticed that lately I've been doing a lot of inking and coloring; but haven't really delved into my pattern papers in a really long time. So, I decided to break out my box of 6x6 paper pads and see what I could use. Now, full disclaimer here, my patterned paper box is a whole hodge lodge of whole
sheets, scraps big and small, so I'm not going to tell you from where these specific pieces I used on the front of the card came because honestly...I really don't know! I just rifled through and found things that I thought looked pretty decent together.

I was also able to use my new Rise Above stamp set from Verve Stamp. I think this "Keep Shining" sentiment is such a great and versatile sentiment. It can be used for encouragement or congratulations or just a general "you're awesome" sentiment. In keeping with the sentiment, I added some stickles around the circle. Here's an up close picture of the center of the card so you can see the sparkles and that I wanted to add some dimension to the center and to kind of curl up the edges of the center die cut.

That's all for me today. I'll be back on Wednesday with another card to share. Thanks for visiting with me and have a GREAT day!

Challenges: 

1. Glitter N Sparkle: Use a punch/Die Cut. I used the coordinating die for the center circle 

2. Crafty Calendar Challenge: Anything Goes

3.Crafty Friends Challenge: Anything Goes

4. Artistic Inspirations: Anything Goes

5. Crafting from the Heart: Anything Goes

6. Our Crafty Corner: Anything Goes

Supplies: 

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb, various pattern papers

Stamps: "Rise Above" Verve with coordinating Die Cuts

Ink: Wild Honey Distress ink, Audrey Blue (Simon Says Stamp) 

Thinking of You Makes Me Smile

Hi Everyone!

I am back today to share a one layer card I made using a stencil from My Favorite Things, along with some distress inks and a simple sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.

I masked off the center of the card while I did the ink blending through the stencil to keep the area where I wanted to put the sentiment clean. Once I was done with the stenciling and blending, I removed the mask and added the sentiment.

There's not really a whole lot to say about this card today. Just an easy peasy design today!

Challenges for today's card:

1. 4 Crafty Chicks: Anything Goes
2. Crafty Girls Creations: Anything Goes
3. Southern Girls Challenge: Anything Goes
4. Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

Supplies: 
Card stock: Neenah Solar White 110lb
Stencil: My Favorite Things: Abstract Petals
Distress Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Victorian Velvet, Crushed Olive
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Very Special