Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Happy Spring!

Well, according to the calendar at least...it's still below freezing with snow here. Blah. Thankfully the start of the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop means I have a reason to play with pretty spring colors, even if it's while I'm wearing a sweater and boots...LOL

New to the hop? You've stumbled across a very fun, very caffeinated group then my friend. Here's the nitty-gritty:

When: Friday, March 24 - Friday, March 31

Theme: Spring 

Use: coffee, tea &/or cocoa images

Social Media tag: #spring2017clh
Main Coffee Lovers blog: http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/
Direct link to SPRING Hop Post: http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/2953
I'm offering up a Flash Prize of a $10 gift certificate to my shop. Because hey, who doesn't need a new coffee mug?

Ok, on to my card - I had so much fun mixing and matching stamp sets again, and using one of Mama Denise's upcoming Bunkie Bags as inspiration.

Look how happy that little spring coffee cup is! She's a mix of Copic coloring and paper piecing, then fussy-cut out and added to the finished card with foam tape. I even made note of the Copic colors I used for you:

This stamp and the sentiment are from the Simon Says Stamp Coffee & Tea card kit. The coffee beans are from my oldest stamp set from Fiskars. Those I stamped with Versamark onto natural linen card stock and heat embossed with the Nuvo Hot Chocolate embossing powder.

I then broke out the Big Kick and went to town die cutting my ivory panels, a scalloped circle out of vellum, and a teal circle for contrast (and so you could read the sentiment). The sentiment I heat embossed with the Ranger Silver Pearl embossing powder.  Then it was time to assemble; kona cardstock card base, ivory coffee bean panel, teal circle & vellum scallop (with the adhesive hidden behind the coffee cup) and the coffee cup added with foam tape.

Can't forget the inside! You were wondering why I die cut two ivory panels, weren't you?

More coffee beans and this sentiment is from the Fiskars set as well. And now I want another cup of coffee...LOL

Thanks for stopping by today! Up top is are the links to all of my shop categories; coffee cups, coasters, and cards, all handmade by yours truly. :) And just for you coffee lovers, I have a coupon code good now thru April 1st - use Spring17 to take 15% off your purchase. I have links to my card making supplies below as well.

Happy Caffeinated Crafting!

Some links are affiliate links, which simply means I receive a small commission if you purchase something using them at no extra cost to you. That commission keeps the blog running and funds all of the giveaways, so thank you for using them!

Simon Says Clear Stamps COFFEE AND TEA SSS101695	Lawn Fawn SCALLOPED CIRCLE STACKABLES Lawn Cuts Dies LF523	Lawn Fawn LARGE STITCHED RECTANGLE STACKABLES Lawn Cuts Dies LF767	Simon Says Stamp VELLUM SSSVEL12 STAMPtember
Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 80# KONA KOFFEE KK31	Tonic HOT CHOCOLATE Nuvo Embossing Powder 612N	Ranger Embossing Powder SILVER PEARL EPJ37514	Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark VM-001
Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad VF-82	Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad CUP O' JOE Mid-Tone AF214	Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad DEEP END POOL Mid-Tone AF212	MISTI

InLinkz.com

Happy Birthday, Suzy!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to my stop on the surprise birthday blog hop for Suzy of So Suzy Stamps! You should be arriving from Josefine's awesome blog where you heard all about the prizes, yes? In case you just stumbled in this Monday morning, let's review; the amazing Justine gathered a whole bunch of Suzy's friends plus former and current Design Team members together to celebrate Suzy turning 40...again...because 40 is the new sexy, after all. We also have three (3) amazing party favors up for grabs! Just leave a comment on every blog for a chance to win:

• $20 So Suzy Gift Certificate from justinehovey.com
• Bunkie Bag from Simply Charming Everyday
• Original MISTI from My Sweet Petunia

Winner will be announced February 22nd!

Ok, on to my card! Now I've had the great pleasure of knowing Suzy for three years now. I was on her original Design Team, have attended card classes at her house, survived grocery shopping with her (never, EVER try to touch the cart. EVER.) and attended Creativation with her and some other fabulous ladies just last month. She is a seriously funny, classy lady with a boat-load of spunk and sass, even if she does kill electronic devices on a regular basis. So keeping all of that in mind I grabbed my Suzy stamps and came up with this:

One classy dame with a glass of champagne! (I know it's a martini glass, just go with me on this.) I started off by stamping the Tulip Background in Versamark ink on the front & inside of my card base to give it that fabulous watermark look. Then out came my MISTI, Versafine Onyx ink, the Martini Lady and the Happy Birthday stamp. I always use my MISTI with solid stamps like this because it takes me so many tries to get the image perfect.

Of course, I also have no patience for drying times, so I added clear embossing powder over the top and heat set it. A little stitching thanks to the stitched rectangle dies and this gal was ready for the card base.

To add height, I added a layer of fun foam behind the panel and attached it all to my card base. Then this lady needed some bling! Fizzy bubbles from the glass with the Nuvo White Blizzard and a necklace and earrings using the Nuvo Soft Gold. While those dried, it was time to make the inside panel.

With the Mirror Image stamp celebration happening, I could not resist pulling mine out for this card. Using it, I added another martini champagne glass to the inside but heat embossed this one in gold glitter powder. Sparkly awesomeness!

And the sentiment? Hehehehehehe...unfortunately, it looks like it's retired (dang it, Suzy!) but it's a classic:

After all, what's a birthday without a little snark? Some more Nuvo drop bubbles and this card was done! You can find all of the supplies I used linked below.

Now you're off to sweet Martha's blog. I'm positive she's got something amazing for you.

Happy Birthday, Suzy!

Supplies Used:

Martini Lady	Happy Birthday Fancy	Tulip Background	Mirror Image Rubber
Pale Gold Nuvo Crystal Drops	Glitter White Blizzard Nuvo Crystal Drops	Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER CLEAR Fine Detail ClearEP1	Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad VF-82
Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark VM-001	Lawn Fawn LARGE STITCHED RECTANGLE STACKABLES Lawn Cuts Dies LF767	Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	*Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# SCHOOLHOUSE RED SR1
MISTI	Foam Sheets 1.5mm 4	Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Runner, Clear, 1-Pack (62127)	Mono Multi Liquid Glue Carded, 0.88-Ounce

InLinkz.com

Some links are affiliate links, which simply means I receive a small commission if you purchase something using them at no extra cost to you. That commission keeps the blog running and funds all of the giveaways, so thank you for using them!

Coffee and You

Happy Wednesday everyone! Did you survive Valentine's Day? I was so afraid my husband, who never reads my blog, would for some reason choose to and see his card that I decided to wait until after I gave it to him to share it with all of you. That said, this can easily be used any time you want to share your caffeinated love with that special guy in your life!

I had so much fun making this card! I combined three different stamp sets from three different companies to create it...yeah, that's the same face my dear friend Dawn made when she wanted to CASE it. I just love mixing & matching my stamp sets, and I have one or two dozen coffee sets lying around that deserved playing with.

The coffee cup from Create a Smile I stamped twice; once on my card front for placement, the second time on a separate piece of cardstock to color with my Copics. I was aiming for a Valentine-y ombre effect and love how it turned out. Once dry I fussy-cut it out and used a little foam tape to adhere it to the card front.

The steam and little hearts are from the same set and really finished off the coffee. The sentiment is from The Ton and I cannot believe I haven't inked it up sooner! Cute story - we went out to dinner Friday night. He met me at the bottom of the stairs with a cup of coffee to drink on the way. Does he know me or what?

Can't forget the inside! This sentiment is from the new Simon Says Stamp February card kit and is perfect for all things love and coffee.

Really, this is a super easy card to make. The coloring is what took the longest, from there it was just lots of stamping and gluing. And it's even a masculine card - woo!

Now, time to go buy some half-price candy to go with this coffee...LOL Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Supplies Used:

Create A Smile COFFEE FIRST Clear Stamp CLCS6	Simon Says Clear Stamps COFFEE AND TEA SSS101695	Love Defined	Silly Stitched Die Set
Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad VF-82	Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad PALE BLUSH PINK ink040	Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad CUP O' JOE Mid-Tone AF214	Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad FOG Gray Ink025
Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad SLATE Gray Ink024	Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink HOT LIPS ink033	Neenah Classic Crest 24 lb 8 1/2 x 11 Inch Solar White Paper 500 Sheets (04631)	Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 80# KONA KOFFEE KK31

InLinkz.com

Some links are affiliate links, which simply means I receive a small commission if you purchase something using them at no extra cost to you. That commission keeps the blog running and funds all of the giveaways, so thank you for using them!

Princesses and a Wedding

Oh my, where did the fall go?? Between school starting again, Halloween, and craft show season starting all the days started blurring together around here. And, honestly, I was feeling rather burnt out. Ever hit that point where you want to create, but real life has you so exhausted you just can't drag yourself to your craft room? Yeah, that was my October. But that feeling is definitely passing now and I have a giant stack of pretty new stamps sitting on my desk begging to be used. Who am I to ignore them any longer?? LOL

Let's start with the wedding - friends of ours tied the knot and they deserved a special card. Of course, I had one idea in my head and my husband completly hated it...too formal/frooey for them, not enough natural/nature. Fine. FINE. (He was right, blast him. I hate it when he's right.)

So in the end, I still got to use the stamps I wanted but utterly changed up the color scheme:

I finally got to use the bride & groom from So Suzy Stamps and one of the newer sentiments (one of my personal favorites). I heat embossed them on a cream base with hot chocolate Nuvo embossing powder, then layered it onto woodgrain cardstock and the whole pile onto some pretty deep olive cardstock. And yes, it's a square card - the freedom of delivering it in person!

The inside got a little 'fancier' - leaf vellum paper, anyone? It is sooooo pretty, and perfect for layering inside of the card.

More of the cream and wood grain on the inside, with plenty of room for us to write our best wishes to them. Isn't the font on that Congratulations stamp awesome?? The wedding was just beautiful as well.

Now for the princesses...hehehe...I had the joy last weekend of attending a local scrapbooking retreat that happens twice a year. A full weekend of paper, friends, merriment...and themes! This crop the theme was Royalty and, being a team member, who was I to shirk my duty to dress up?

Friday night brought about this gem...hey, $30 on Amazon, people! Very see-thru, though, so you're welcome for the jeans and tank top...LOL

 My friend Annette was, of course, the Queen of Hearts. I must have done ok as I got to keep my head.

While it was fun being Princess Leia (though, let me tell you, that hood is HOT to keep up all night!) Saturday was my favorite. And, even better, I shopped my closet & craft room to pull her together, AND only burned my thumb a dozen times curling my hair!

Can you guess who I was?

I'll come back and tell after you have some time to log your guesses in the comments. I will say it tickled me to no end that nearly everyone at the crop figured it out!

All right, I have a craft show to get ready for on Sunday - local peeps, check the sidebar for my schedule! And non-local peeps, take a peek at the new headers up at the top of the blog. I'm very proud to announce that my handmade shop is now part of my blog page! Wahoo! Huge shout-out to the techs at Shopify who got it working for me.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Some links are affiliate links, which simply means I receive a small commission if you purchase something using them at no extra cost to you. That commission keeps the blog running and funds all of the giveaways, so thank you for using them!