Sunday, September 30, 2018

Paper Sweeties Plan Your Life Series October 2018


Welcome to October!  We're planning our lives over at Paper Sweeties!  I've got some sneaky peeks here on my planner pages!  I'm not gonna tell you what they are... you'll find out on the 14th, 15th and 16th when we reveal the new release!  You might figure it out... if you're really good...lol!


We don't really get much of an Autumn here in the South West part of Arizona... it's just less hot!  But I lived in NY for 45 years so I know what a beautiful Autumn looks like.  Aside from my people it's really all I miss about New York.  'Cause I also remember what a terrible Winter looks like...lol!


You can see... I have a really busy October and it's ALL awesome!


Isn't Madison a sweetie??  She's with her best friend and picking out her Halloween pumpkin!

Now be sure to check out what my teamies have created for you today!  And see there?  We've got a new teammate!  Welcome Taylor!  Excited to have you with us!


Saturday, September 29, 2018

National Coffee Day Blog Hop 2018!


OH Happy Day!!  It's National Coffee Day (what a great excuse to have an extra cuppa or two!) and as Coffee Lovers of course we're going to celebrate! All you have to do is sit back, hop, take in all of the inspiration, and leave some love at each stop along the way!  And I have some Blog Candy for you today too so be sure to read through to the end so you don't miss anything!

The hop starts at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog here!  You may have arrived here from my Coffee Lovin' Teamie, Kathy's blog!  If you get lost along the way, never fear... just head back to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog where you'll find the complete hop listing and links!  (I've added the complete hop listing at the bottom of this post as well).  And we have a special guest up on the CLC Blog, Sheri Gilson is representing oh so generous Super Sponsor Gina K Designs!  Be sure to visit her blog too and leave some love there!

We are SO excited to be hopping along with not just the CLC Design Team, past (Brew Crew) and present, but also a whole bunch of our Super Sponsors are joining in!  There are a total of 33 sponsor stops and 22 DT stops plus the CLC Blog with prizes being offered at most of the hop stops!  The hop begins at the Coffee Loving Cardmaker's Blog and we are so grateful for the prizes that have been donated to our DT stops by our wonderful sponsors:

Avery Elle - $25 Gift Code
CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - $25 Gift Code
Ellen Hutson LLC - $25 Gift Card
Gina K Designs - Two $50 Gift Cards
Honey Bee Stamps - $25 Gift Card
Joy Clair - $25 Gift Card
Lawn Fawn - $25 Gift Card
Newton's Nook Designs - $25 Gift Card
Pink & Main - $25 Store Credit
Precious Remembrance - Little Things stamp set + exclusive coupon savings
Reverse Confetti - $15 Gift Card
STAMPlorations - $15 Gift Card

Wow! that is over $400 worth of prizes that are hidden among the designers that are joining us today.  Leave a comment on this post as well as comment along the way for a chance to win!  Commenting will be open through Saturday, October 6th at 11:55 pm pacific.  Winners for the prizes above will be posted on Monday, October 8th.

I am so honored to have my post sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  We're giving away a $25 gift code to the CAS-ual Fridays Shop here at my blog!

 
I've created a couple projects using some wonderful CAS-ual Fridays products for today!


I started by cutting a shaped card using the Bubble Box Fri Dies.  I simply folded my paper in half and then with the die just barely off the folded edge, ran it through my Big Shot and... instant shaped card!  Then I used the Bubble Box dies to create my background layers.


Next I cut my cup using one of my very favorite cup dies from some Copic friendly paper, the Coffee Cup Fri Dies ... that wonderful heart handle!  I stamped part of the beautiful fox from the Foxy stamp set onto the cup with Memento Ink and colored it in with my Copics.  I added some liquid glass to the Coffee.  Then I stamped the beautiful flowers and foliage stamps from the Foxy set, colored and fussy cut them.


And finally this perfect sentiment from the Peace, Love and Coffee stamp set on black.  The banner was cut using a die from CDD.  I normally don't attach anything right away so that I can move things around on my base until I'm happy with what I'm seeing and then using various thicknesses of foam tape and other adhesives to attach it all.  I finished it off with some sequins from Paper Sweeties.

With this one, I'm playing along with a challenge over at Double Trouble which is to use Three Colors and a Stamped or Digital Image as well as Brown Sugar Challenge to use Creatures Great and Small!  They're playing together for a couple days yet and you should check them out!!

And my second card:


I cut the base rectangle striped layer with a die from Kat Scrappiness.  Another one of my favorite cup dies is the To Go Cup Fri Die from CAS-ual Fridays!  It's a fantastic size when you want a cup to be the Star of the Show and I cut it and the wrap out strategically from my papers so just what I wanted would show.  You may see I used the Bubble Box Die again to tuck a layer underneath the cup where I'd place my sentiment.


Then I cut a few of the pretty flowers from the Garden Fri Dies... the swirly top layer was cut from some previously watercolored paper and Goldrush cardstock for the bottom part of the flower.  I had some of the pretty leaves that I printed, foiled and watercolored from Graciellie Designs left over on my table and they were just right to tuck in and around my card pieces along with the beautiful flowers.


And then I built my sentiment using the Coffee word die from the Coffee Cup Fri Dies set and that cute sentiment from the Coffee Talk Stamp Set.  Just a few sequins sprinkled around and it was done!  You really do need to check out the huge selection of Coffee and Tea items in the CAS-ual Fridays shop!


It was really hard to stop creating for today because I was so excited and I decided to make a couple more things for you today using items from a few more sponsors as well:


I've used the same papers for all of these projects because I've challenged myself to use up my pad of Prima Amber Moon papers... it's not hard to use it except for that little voice in my head that tells me when it's gone... it's gone!  And then I'll be fighting with myself to not order more...lol!  Here is a list of items I used for this one:

Kat Scrappiness Double Stitched Rectangles; Our Daily Bread Designs Layered Lacey Ovals, Cups & Mugs Dies, Violet Single Stamp, and leaves from the Pretty Posies Dies; Sentiment from Lil' Inker Designs Coffee Talk 2 Stamps and some beautiful leftover autumn leaves that I had cut and watercolored from an SVG file over at the Cutting Cafe.

And, I just had to get this idea out of my head and I have a special Blog Candy giveaway here too!  You may or may not know yet that CLC Super Sponsor Little Acres Creations is closing up shop.  There is a small inventory of some sets left for purchase and right now they are half off with the code Sale50!  Once they're gone... they're gone!  I needed to combine some of my favorite characters from Little Acres on this one:


SO... LOTS of giggling while I created this..lol!  I've used the Coffee Lovin' cow and sentiment from the Moo Brew Set, those cute little Piglets from the Pigments of Imagination (No Longer Available just since I created this!), the sweet mice from Cafe Dreamers, and that adorable Hound from the From The Pack set (Also No Longer Available).  I imagine that this is what my stamp sets do before I get up in the morning...lol!  Like Toy Story... 

I've also used the Kat Scrappiness Double Stitched Rectangles, a window from Memory Box, and those awesome trees from the Craftin Desert Divas Fall Border Dies.  Also, for the cups I used the Mini Cups and Mugs dies from ODBD and that teeny Tiny Cup from Memory Box.

I'll be linking this one up to Double Trouble and Brown Sugar as well through Instagram... and hey Tracey!  There's even a Punny Sentiment for you!

And now... the Blog Candy!  I have for you one Moo Brew stamp set that I will send to one commentor from this post!  That's your second chance to win something here!


So cute, right??  And love the punny sentiments and that awesome Coffee Shop sign!  I sure am going to miss Little Acres... I was so lucky to get to know Chelle and Miko when I stumbled upon that Coffee House Mouse set on Facebook... because that's what it's about right... the relationships we create while we're doing this crazy thing!  So leave me some love and have a chance to win this set.  I'll use the same schedule as Amy for commenting and announcing the winner and if you want me to contact you please be sure to leave me your email address!

EDITED TO ADDThe winner of the Moo Brew stamp set here on my blog is Lucy Evans!  Congrats to Lucy and thanks so much to everyone for stopping by and leaving love!  All of the winners from the CLC prizes have been announced on the CLC blog as well as a document in the Coffee Loving Papercrafter's Facebook Group.  Congrats to all!

Whew!!  Honestly.. it was hard to stop.... all of our CLC sponsors have so many cool and beautiful products, coffee related and not.  When I shop, I usually start at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog from one of the hops and click from there...lol!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and sticking with me through to the end!  For chances to win all of the prizes offered, be sure to comment at the Coffee Loving Cardmaker's Blog, Sheri's Blog from Gina K Designs, all of the CLC DT stops AND the sponsor stops!  There are prizes everywhere!!

Your next stop along the way is the oh so talented Rubeena Ianigro ... Yes!  The illustrious Ruby is on the Brew Crew and forever a part of the heart of the Coffee Loving Cardmakers!  So head on over there and enjoy!

And again... a special thanks to Michele at CAS-ual Fridays for sponsoring my post!  And don't forget CAS-ual Fridays has a challenge that starts every other Friday.  This time around it's a sketch challenge and you should check it out here! And a Calling All Sistahs Encouragement Challenge and this time around it's Black & White... check that out here!

Be sure to visit all of the Design Team Blogs and the Sponsor Blogs!


Thursday, September 27, 2018

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #209 - Sketch!


Welcome to a new Friday Challenge from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  This time around we have a sketch challenge for you to try!  Create your project using this sketch and link up for your chance to win!  Here's how I was inspired:


I'm still working on that Prima Amber Moon paper pad!  I used the wood slat paper for my background and then added some bronze glitter tape and a strip of a leaf print from the paper pad for my corners.


Those Bubble Box dies... one of my fave sets for layering!  I used it here for the show stopping sentiment from the Dream Then Do Stamp set.  I love when a sentiment is so awesome it can be the star of the show!


And these so sweet flowers from the Four Petals dies! I cut them out of some watercolored paper I had left over and distressed the edges a bit.  Then I bent the petals to add some depth and glued the layers together.


I love how simple, but pretty these flowers are!  Some bling for the centers and a few scattered around and this one is done!

I'm playing along with the Outlawz Twisted Thursday which is always anything goes, but this week the twist is also Anything Goes!  Check it out!

And!!  Don't forget tomorrow:


CAS-ual Fridays is one of the Oh So Generous sponsors participating in this hop!  Come back and visit me tomorrow for all of the details!

That's it for me today!  I can't wait to see what you do with this sketch!

Hope I've inspired you!  What are you playing for? 10 winning entries will be highlighted on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog the Thursday before a new challenge goes live!  We call it the Happy Hour!  In addition a $25 gift certificate goes to the overall winner.  AND if the chosen winner uses CAS-ual Fridays stamps and/or dies as the main focus for the card, the gift certificate increases to $50!

So what are you waiting for!  Nothing to lose and $25 to $50 of awesome stuff to gain!  Hope to see you over there


Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to checkout this challenge... I can't wait to see what you create!  And don't forget to check out the inspiration from the team!  Some pretty awesome stuff going on there!


Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Papertrey Ink September 2018 Blog Hop


Today's the day for the PaperTrey Ink September 2018 Blog Hop!  This is the inspiration photo!  Isn't it beautiful??  I didn't have any pumpkins to use, but I went along with the color scheme, the plaid, the drinks and those big beautiful leaves.  Here's how I was inspired:


In case you didn't already know... I LOVE plaid... I think it's just so cool how diverse the patterns can be and the colors... and it feels cozy to me.... maybe because of flannel and the general homey feeling.  SO of course I had to get this beautiful plaid Oval3 Shape Shifter when it was released this month!  And I was so excited it came in time to use it for this project!  And it's awesome to make a shaker out of!  With the wide frame it's easy to add the pop up tape and I cut my clear layer using a plain old oval die that was big enough... easy peasy!


And this awesome new Merry Mug stamp set!  Love this one!  By the time I checked out last week I wasn't able to get the die... but it's easy enough to cut out and I will get the die when it becomes available again... I'm sure there will be other stuff I need to have by then...lol!  This cup is so cool because the main part of the cup leaves a strip in the middle and you have a couple choices of how to stamp that strip... I thought the one that said Yum was just right!  I used one of my favorite steam dies from Paper Sweeties for the steam.  


Those cool leaves and pretty little flowers are from the Grand Botanicals die set and that sentiment from Cozy Christmas was perfect!


So the Blog Hop runs today only!   If you don't have time to make something, then definitely sign up for the newsletter.  Usually an email will come earlier in the month stating the date of the hop and the inspiration photo so you have some time to make something and join in!  Even if you can't make anything it's fun to hop around and see how others were inspired.

Thanks for stopping! And be sure to come back soon and don't forget about this on Saturday!!!  Lots of sponsors and prizes and you get to sit back, have a cuppa, and hop and comment for your chance to win!




Sunday, September 23, 2018

Giving Thanks and a Fun Meet!


I wanted to play along one more time with the Monthly Mix Challenge from Gina K Designs over at StampTV.  This is a Ning Site and you do have to join, but it is SO worth it for all of the fun and inspiration!  I was very excited to meet Gina K at the latest Stamp & Scrapbook Expo in Mesa last weekend too!  A very sweet and nice person and generous sponsor and supporter of the Coffee Loving Papercrafters!  Here we are with my good friend Mare, Gina and myself:


It was a good day and I got to meet a few of our awesome sponsors that day... I'll be sharing more pics with you in some upcoming posts!


And this challenge... using colors that remind you of Autumn... well, right now I'm all about the Autumn colors.  In fact I have a gorgeous Prima Amber Moon paper pad I've challenged myself to use up.  It's a tall order, but it's so beautiful it's really not hard to make myself use it..lol!  If it wasn't for my Misti I wouldn't be able to have such a nice crisp image stamped on this beautiful paper!  I was able to stamp it Saddle a couple times to get a nice deep color that stood out even on the printed paper.  (Thanks again Mom!)


I was so excited to finally ink up this wonderful Give Thanks stamp set from Gina K!  I purchased it at the end of last Autumn season and although this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing today, I thought of it and knew I needed to get it out!!  And I'm so happy I did.  All of these images are stamped from that set.  And while I didn't buy this stamp set last weekend, I did pick up some other awesome stuff including the Gina K Designs Amalgam Ink which is a hybrid that works well with Copics, colored pencils, water based markers... anything I guess... and I can attest to the Copic so far!  Awesome ink!  So awesome it's hard to get your hands on, but she had some at the show and I was excited to find it there!


Love acorns... I don't know why, but I do!


And I wanted you to be sure to see these leaves!  I cut these with an SVG file the other day when I was creating my Autumn projects for the Cutting Cafe for my 3D Pumpkin!  I didn't use them on that one but I knew I would use them ... I love that Regina set them up so that they have stitched lines.  I had cut them in this Goldrush color along with my pumpkins.  For this one, I spritzed them with water and crumpled them up.  Then I took some distress inks and watercolored them randomly with those and then pulled out my Gansai Tambi Starry Colors Water Based Pigment ... all different golds in this set.. and splashed a few of those colors over them.  Once dry, I sponged some Saddle ink on the edges.  LOVE the shimmer the Gansai Tambi pigments gives them!


One more peek... now I better get back to what I originally set out to do!

Thanks for stopping!  I'm also playing along over at Double Trouble Challenges which is to Use At Least 3 Colors and a Stamped or Digital Image and they are partnering with Brown Sugar Challenge which is Creatures Great and Small!  Also playing along with The Outlawz In The Garden Challenge!  You really should check them ALL out!