SHC - Caffeine Inspiration ....

... Morning all! I'm here with my weekly Seven Hills Craft blog post, and today I've been inspired by the current Autumn/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog hop. It's been such fun getting out some of my many coffee themed stamp sets. Here's my first card:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Coffee Blend Turnabout; Altenew - Forever Friends, Birthday Builder; Sugar Pea Designs - The Perfect Blend; Waffle Flower - Coffee Cup Sentiments

Inks: Gina K - Sandy Beach, Kraft, Warm Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Turquoise Sea; Versafine Clair - Pinecone

Dies: Altenew - Forever Friends

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Early Espresso; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush

I'm submitting this card to Seize the Birthday - STB#227 where the toppings option is Beverages. Done!!

You all know that I love C&9's turnabout stamps and this one is extra special as it's about coffee!! I stamped the image in four shades of brown ink. I trimmed the panel to 5¼" square and layered it on to a 5½" brown square and adhered it to the front of a 5¾" white notecard. I stamped the coffee mug on white card and used the co-ordinating die to cut it out, along with three extra white cups. I coloured the stamped image and on one of the other mugs stamped the label area, coloured it with Copic markers and stamped a birthday greeting. I fussy cut out the label, adhered it to the stacked mug and added it to the centre of the card. I added some sparkle to the label with a clear aquashimmer brush. Inside the card I cut a mat layer of brown card. I kept it simple on the white panel and simply stamped a greeting and added a few coffee beans for decoration.

I decided to have a go at making a mini-slimline card:

Stamps: Altenew - Forever Friends; Sugar Pea Designs - The Perfect Blend

Inks: Gina K - Cherry Red; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark

Dies: Altenew - Forever Friends; Gina K - Master Layout 7

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Real Red; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush; Lawn Fawn - White Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Just Us Girls - JUGS#610 where it's Trend Week and that is to make a mini-slimline card.

I cut a piece of white card 6½" by 6¼", and scored it at 3¼" on the longer edge to give a card 3¼" x 6¼". I used a stitch edge die to cut the white panel on to which I stamped the word 'coffee' and a verse in red ink. I layered the stamped panel on red card and adhered it to the notecard. To finish the front I stamped a coffee mug on white card and on red card. On the red mug I stamped a row of hearts in Versamark ink and embossed with clear powder. I fussy cut the red label, adhered it to the mug and used dimensional pads to add it to the notecard. I finished the front with a bit of sparkle inside the hearts. Inside the card, I kept things very simple. I stamped a row of red coffee beans and added a fun greeting.

My final card is ultra clean and simple:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Coffee Blend Turnabout; Sugar Pea Designs - The Perfect Blend; MFT - Itty Bitty Basics, Coffee Break

Inks: Gina K - Blue Lagoon, Stormy Sky; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - Square Stax Set 1 #1

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Bermuda Bay; Copic Markers; Glossy Accents

I'm submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#203 where they want us to keep everything, including the sentiment, in a one-inch space. I think my design also fits with the optional twist of masculine theme.

I stamped the Coffee Blend turnabout image once in black ink and used a square die, slightly under an inch, to cut out the mini coffee mug. I found a tiny 'hello' that fit perfectly by the side of the mug and stamped it in green ink. I layered the tiny square on to some scrap green card and cut it to exactly one-inch square. I adhered the square towards the top of an A2 notecard. I coloured the heart and added some shine with Glossy Accents. Inside the card, I kept things equally clean and simple. I stamped a fun greeting in green ink and added some coffee beans for decoration.

I had lots of fun making these coffee themed cards. 

I'm so pleased that I've been able to join in with the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - it's been a while!! That's all from me today. Keep safe. See you soon.

SHC - Caffeine Overload ....

... Morning! I'm here with several cards that I made for Seven Hills Craft Blog. You've probably guessed from the post title that they have a coffee theme! I think coffee is my favourite drink (after gin of course) and I have many, many stamp sets featuring coffee. So, I decided to go through my stash and make some cards. I'm starting with a very clean, simple birthday card:

Stamps: MFT - Whimsical Greetings; Lil Inkers - Latte Love; Lawn Fawn - Scripty Sayings; Reverse Confetti - Be A Barista
Inks: Gina K - Lipstick, Soft Stone, Sandy Beach, Black Amalgam
Accessories: White Card

I've been inspired to make all these cards by the Caffeine Fuelled Paper Play - CLC#04. I'm also playing along with Seize the Birthday - STB#189 where the theme is food and drink, and with CAS(E) this Sketch - CTS#369 and I've flipped the sketch.

I used my MISTI to line up the patterned border images and stamped them in soft grey ink. I used the solid cup and saucer from Latte Love and stamped it in a bright red ink - it really draws your eye! I finished the front by using the flower coffee topper inside the cup, and a punny greeting. On the inside, I kept it just as simple. I used a scripty greeting and added another coffee cup and topping, this time from a Reverse Confetti stamp set.

My next card is a clean, layered and holiday card - featuring coffee!

Stamps: Hero Arts - Coffee Cup Tags; Lil Inkers - Coffee Cozy; Dare 2B Artzy - Poinsettia Tangle
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam, Sea Glass, Ocean Mist
Dies: Hero Arts - Coffee Cup Tags; Spellbinders - A2 Bracket Borders One (S5-181)
Accessories: White Card, Copic Markers, Black Embossing Powder; Kaisercraft DP - Holly Jolly

I'm submitting this card to Jingle Belles - JB:20:09 where they have a sketch for us to use.

I found some Christmas paper in my stash and picked a couple of sheets, then I matched the ink to the paper and stamped the sentiment mug on white card. I also stamped the label and cream topping, and used the matching dies to cut out the image. I cut a panel of the aqua paper for the bottom of the card and used a die to cut a fancy lace edge into the red paper. I edge the whole panel with a thin strip of black card. I adhered the holly sprig directly to the card and used dimensional pads to adhere the coffee mug and cream topper. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of aqua design paper and on the white panel added the other coffee mug from the stamp set and a sweet sentiment from Coffee Cozy.

My last coffee project is a coffee mug shaped gift card:

Stamps: Waffle Flower - Coffee Cup Sentiments; Sugar Pea Designs - The Perfect Blend; Lil Inkers - Coffee Talk 2
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Denim
Dies: Waffle Flower - Coffee Cup Die
Accessories: White Card, SU Card - Night of Navy

I'm submitting this card to Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#243 where they want dies to feature, and Caffeine Fuelled Paper Play - CLC#04.

This was such fun to make. There is a video on the Waffle flower site to show how to use the die. I cut the holder from a piece of white card and then decorated both sides.

I used one of the sentiments from Coffee Talk 2 for front and then added lots of little coffee beans all round. On the back of the holder, I used the checkbox image from Waffle Flower. I'll tick the appropriate box before I send it. The insert is is made from two dies, one for the lid (cut two pieces and adhered either side of the main panel) and the main body of the insert cut from white card, the die also cuts two openings to allow a Coffee gift card to be inserted. I added a simple sentiment.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end. I had so much fun making all these cards. Being stuck at home during this lockdown has made me go through all my stash to see what I can create. It is great to mix things up by using products from different companies. That's it for today - see you again soon.

Coffee ....

... Morning! I had a really enjoyable afternoon yesterday, self-isolating in my craft room. We're all fine. Kat is still at school at the moment, but not sure how long it'll be before the Government decides to shut that down. Jonathan works from home, so there's no change to his situation. My local craft group has been closed for a while. So, I made a card just for fun:

Stamps: Stamplorations - Caffeinated Zen 1; Sugar Pea Designs - The Perfect Blend
Inks: Versafine Clair - Pinecone, Acorn
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Early Espresso; Tim Holtz Watercolour Card; Zig Clear Colour Brushes; Staedtler - Aquarell Watercolour Pencils; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm playing along with Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC#03 where it's Anything Goes with the option of Flowers. I'm also joining in with Coffee Loving Cardmakers - CLC#03; this is a challenge that I've been meaning to play along with for ages.

I stamped the lower coffee mug directly on the card using Versafine Clair ink and embossed with clear powder. I used watercolour pencils to colour the flowers on the mug band giving a lovely soft finish. I stamped the other mug on scrap card, embossed it and cut it out. I stamped the band of flowers on watercolour card and used Zig Clean Colour brushes to colour this band, giving a much more vibrant mug band. I attached this mug using dimensional pads. I finished the front with a simple word - "coffee" the best drink in the world, and added shadow under the mugs. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of brown card and on the white panel added a verse - so true, especially at the moment. I also added a coffee tree and some coffee beans.

I know that this is an extremely difficult time for us all, and particularly those who have got friends and family who have got Covid-19. Our village has set up a scheme to help those who really need to isolate by getting shopping, meds, etc and just making sure they're okay. Keep safe. Bye for now.