Friendship Has Its Perks + A Video!

Good morning everyone! Got some coffee next to you? After all, it's National Coffee Day and Chaitali over at Cuts, Crops & Creativity is co-hosting an amazing Coffee Lovers Bloghop!

Seeing as I love coffee (seriously folks, have you SEEN the name of my blog?) I naturally leaped into this feet first, coffee cup in hand. In fact, I was so buzzed on caffeine I thought this would be the perfect occasion to film a start-to-finish card video. Mistakes were made, laughter was heard, and I still can't tell if the video is any good or if anyone will even watch the thing, but I did it!

You can watch it below or follow the link to my new YouTube channel. If you thought it was at least good for a laugh, I'd love it if you subscribed. Now that I have one under my belt, there are definitely more to follow!

Things I've learned:
-my table moves every time I touch it. Every. Time.
-when you zoom in to show a feature, remember to zoom back out.
-filming on the vertical is rough; that's how I lost some of the bottom half of the screen. Sigh.
-in the end, it was fun and I'd do it again.

As I mentioned in the video, I used the new Simon Says Stamp October card kit featuring the most fantastic coffee die and stamp set. I'm in love; my caffeine-filled heart went pitter-patter at the sight of it. The technique is on I saw on Jennifer McGuire's blog a while back (oh to film videos like her!) and it was so much fun.

Here's a better look at the final cards:

Virginia Lu offered up some fun coffee-related questions for the participants, and I just had to play along. I started drinking coffee on a regular basis when I was a junior in high school; tons of homework late into the night meant a morning mug of coffee while I waited for the bus was heaven. My favorite brands (I am SUCH a snob) are Green Mountain, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks lattes. Not the Starbucks coffee, though, as I always think it tastes burnt. Oh, and if I don't drink my needed coffee, I will get lack-of-caffeine headaches, become ridiculously cranky and sometimes verbally assault people. There's a reason I have a sign in my house that reads "I drink coffee for your protection". Yes I'm addicted; what's your point? The world is a better place because of it...LOL

Now, I'd love to know - are you looking forward to more videos? What would you really like to see? And, of course, what's in your coffee cup??

Supplies - Simon Says Stamp October Card kit (stamps & die), Paperandmore.com 100# white cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Slate ink, Hero Arts White embossing powder, Distress Embossing Ink, 3M Foam Tape, Mama Elephant Bold Banner die, miscellaneous patterned papers, Wink of Stella Clear pen, Pretty Pink Posh 4mm Clear & Bronze sequins, Uhu Glue Stick.

Linking up to - Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes!

Happy Caffeinated Crafting!

Under the Mistletoe

Hi there everyone! Yes, I mentioned a holiday item...no hating! With all of the holiday prep that happens around here, if I don't start on cards (both personal and for sale) NOW I'll never get them done. Seriously. Ask me about the year I sent out Valentine's cards instead...

I've started playing with the new stamp sets I've been ordering for the holidays (shhh, don't tell the hubs) and grabbed the new Hero Arts 'Under the Mistletoe' set last night to play with. 

Ever have one of those cards that goes horribly wrong? This. Was. It. Several pieces of paper and ink stains later, this was the final result:

Under the Mistletoe

It doesn't look like it was a hot mess, does it? LOL It's amazing what some patience, embellishments, swearing, and beer can do...in the end, I stamped the big, beautiful mistletoe with Memento Black ink and colored it in with my Spectrum Noirs. To help hide the mess I made when I tried to add the bow from the set, I then fussy-cut it out and added a REAL red bow to the top and a bunch of pretty pearls for the berries.

I heat embossed the sentiment using the luscious Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I am seriously in love with this stuff; the soft, metallic shine it adds is just amazing and not as shiny & bright as a silver.

Some foam adhesive to pop the mistletoe onto the card and some marshmallow sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and my CAS holiday card was finally done.

So, am I alone in my holiday card creation kick or are you playing with new (or old) sets as well?

I am linking up to:

A2Z Scrapbooking Monthly Challenge - Autumn & Christmas

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #127 - Christmas Bingo (red/ribbon or twine/emboss)

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stamps & Stencils

Happy Crafting!

Holiday Cards and a Winner!

Hello there everyone! The nip in the air has me thinking of holiday cards already (ok, that and all the beautiful new stamps that keep arriving on my doorstep!) so I thought I'd share last year's big seller that I've listed again - my pretty, pretty snowflake cards:

Rustic Snowflake Holiday Cards

Seriously, I love these so much; the simplicity of the snowflake and sentiment, the bit of bling with the rhinestone, and some rounded corners to finish off this rustic yet elegant card. I get giddy every time I get to make them!

So giddy in fact, how about a coupon code, hmm? This week only over at my Etsy shop use the coupon code PumpkinLatte to take 15% off your purchase. Hurry though, it expires Saturday, September 27th at midnight!

And now, wondering who won the gold from my Treasure Chest?

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congrats Christina! Your pirate booty will be on it's way to you soon! Be sure to head over to the Mountain Plains Crafters blog to see who else won some pirate treasure.

Have you started your holiday cards yet?

Happy Crafting!

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International Talk Like a Pirate Day...with Treasure!

Yarrrr mateys! The lovely wenches over at Mountain Plains Crafters have served up some grog-a-licious pirate cards and layouts ta tickle yer fancy...and some of dem have buried treasure on their blogs! Be sure to check out everyone's creations, including mine:

Ahoy there, matey!

A pirate ship sailing the open seas! This is a fun mix of Distress Inks and papers to pull this all together. The waves were made with Broken China, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Faded Jeans all layered onto watercolor paper. I wanted the texture and the stiffness when I tore it to get my white waves. The sunset/sunrise is a mix of Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon onto my favorite 100# white cardstock. Some Tombow super adhesive stuck the waves down to the sky after everything dried. I also added some Rock Candy Stickles to the white caps, but it so didn't photograph. Trust me when I say it adds some watery sparkle to the waves.

The pirate ship is from the Sweet Stamp Shop Ahoy! set and is too cool. I did a bit of coloring with my Spectrum Noir markers, added some Glossy Accents to the Jolly Roger and then just popped it up with some foam tape. The sentiment is from the same set and got a touch of color and Glossy Accents as well.

And like that, this ship set sail - yaaaarrrr!

Now then me hearties, interested in me treasure??

One lucky winner will win some gold from my treasure chest! Just enter below using the easy peasy Rafflecopter linky - contest ends Sunday, September 21st at midnight. YAAAARRRRR!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linking up to - Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog Challenge - Techniques

Happy Crafting!

Cozy Greetings

Hi there everyone! Brrrrr is it getting chilly up here - 50 degrees in the morning, 65 all day...sweater & boot weather is here! Before long it'll be time to get the heat going in my craft room.

All this fall weather does put me in the mood for winter cards, though...like ones with BUNNIES! I might have heavily shopped the new Lawn Fawn releases and gotten the adorable Snow Day, the hedgies, their coordinating dies AND the new Argyle Backdrops set. Heh.

But, I mean, BUNNIES!

The card base is some Hero Arts Tide Pool cardstock stamped with the argyle set in Tide Pool and Simon Says Stamp Slate. I used my Spellbinders scalloped circles to make the middle bits and sandwiched the vellum banner between them. The sentiment was heat embossed with the Ranger Fine Detail Black (wow is it good, and wow do I need an embossing buddy!).

The bunnies I colored in with my Spectrum Noir markers then easily cut out with the matching dies. Eegads is it amazing to do that! I stamped the heart with Hero Arts Pale Tomato then used foam tape to attach everything. Some white Wink of Stella on their tails and some clear Wink of Stella on the heart and I was done!

I am linking up to:

Lawnscaping Challenge - Critters Galore

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Make Your Own Background

Don't forget that there's still time to link up your fall cards over at Mountain Plains Crafters!

Happy Crafting!

Mountain Plains Crafters: Fall Leaves and Friendship

Hey everyone - I'm blogging over at Mountain Plains Crafters today about the card I created for our new Fall Card Challenge! Come read all about it:

Mountain Plains Crafters: Fall Leaves and Friendship: Hi there everyone; Jennifer here to share the details of the fall card I created for our  Fall Card Challenge . You have until September 29t...

Wedding Roses

Tired of all of my wedding-related posts yet? ;) Now that I'm quite sure my sister and new brother-in-law have received their card, I can finally share it with all of you!

Funny story; this card was sort of done before the wedding. Kind of. Ok, a few pieces were and then I packed up everything else I needed (including the heat gun) and brought it to the hotel with me and finished it the morning after the ceremony. What, am I the only one who's ever done that? Hey, I had 75 fan programs to finish first!!

I bought the new Ranger Texture Paste and simply went to town with my stencils one night playing with it, so that lovely background was already sitting in my stash. The red ribbon was actually part of some packaging from an online order (yay for reusing!) so all I had to really create were the roses. My dear friend Annette over at Feeding the Soul with Art handed me her DeNami rose stamp and said "here, this is what you need for a wedding card" and she was so right.

I heat embossed two of the roses with the gorgeous Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder; OMG is this stuff beautiful! I almost could have left the roses alone, but instead went in with the Distress Markers in  Fired Brick and Peeled Paint for just enough color. After letting the markers dry for a moment, I fussy-cut them out and used my favorite foam tape on just the rose buds and some of the leaves to stick them to the card. The stems were tied with the ribbon and then tacked down under the ribbon. Made them more three-dimensional and made it so that I didn't have to try and glue down those little stems!

I opened up my brand new Wink of Stella clear pen and proceeded to get a HUGE drop of it right on the card. ACK! I freaked out, looked again, and added 3 more to balance it all out and make it look intentional. Yup, when in doubt, act like it was intentional. Then I added it to the rosebuds as I had planned all along. All done!

We have two more weddings to attend this month, so better be prepared for more wedding posts! I'm also blogging over at Mountain Plains Crafters today about a stunning (if I do say so myself) fall card I made up for our latest card challenge. Be sure to stop on by and say 'hello'!

Linking up to: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge; Bold

Happy Crafting!