I Hope This Perks You Up

Any time I see a coffee challenge, I love playing along.  No need to wonder why.  It's because I love coffee and crafting.  I almost always have a caffeinated beverage next to me when I'm in my craft room.  It's my creative fuel, I suppose.  There are a few fun coffee challenges taking place right now where I'm excited to share my card; and I sure had a great time creating it.

I started with basic black cardstock for my base.  The patterned paper is from JilliBean Soup and I cut it with a curved edge (by hand) and inked it with Mowed Grass Ink.  The coffee cups I stamped, colored and cut were done using a very old stamp set from my stash from V's Sweet Ideas where I used to serve on the Design Team.  The tree stump, darling animals and leaves were stamped using the Woodland Littles Stamp Set from Hello Bluebird.

The little holly and ivy images and sentiment are from Paper Sweeties where I also served on the Design Team.  Yes, it's a blessing to have a large stash of stamps.  I used some crumbled styrofoam to create the "snow" on my card.  This is a trick I learned long ago from my creative friend, Esther.  She's always got a trick or two up her creative sleeve.

I'm excited to play along in these caffeinated challenges.  I hope you're creating some fun cards and having a happy week sharing your art out there in blogland and on social media.  Speaking of which, I'd love to have you come Follow me on Instagram as well as here on my blog.  Thanks so much for your visit today.

I'm playing along in the following:

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge - Challenge #34 - Coffee, Christmas and Whimsical Winter Theme

TIME OUT Challenges - Challenge #274 - Photo Inspiration - Well, it's pretty clear how I was inspired.  They had me at coffee.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Simon Says "Add Some Texture" so I used shredded styrofoam to create some snow to give my card extra texture, and to make it more "Wintery and Christmassy".

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Simon Says "Use Patterned Paper" - I used an (older) green plaid patterned paper from JilliBean Soup at the bottom of my card.

Not 2 Shabby Blog - October Mood Board Challenge - I was inspired by the pinks, the deer, and the sweet images on the mood board.  I don't own any Not 2 Shabby branded products yet.

Thanks again for visiting today.

Blessings,

Karen

Wishing You the Sweetest Season

Have I mentioned that I love coffee?  LOL  I'm being sarcastic, of course, because anyone who's ever stopped by my blog knows that I'm a coffee lover.  In fact, there are many days that I have far more than just one of my delicious vanilla lattes.  I need to be mindful, however, that they have more calories than we likely realize.  Oh my!  And speaking of calories....how about these delicious candy apples?  YUM

My delicious card started with cream cardstock.  I used some fabulous dies from The Greetery on this card including the Frosted Frames Die to cut my background from brown and red cardstocks.  I used the same cardstocks to cut my other images.  The darling apples were cut using the Carmel Apple Dies and the coffee mug was cut using the Cup of Java Dies from Stamp Simply.

Since I don't have the Nutty Bits pieces, I used actual chopped peanuts on my candied apple.  LOL  The sentiment I used is from Paper Sweeties.  Some Cherry Red Baker's Twine, Natural Burlap String and rusty jingle bells were the finishing touch. I made this sweet coffee/treat card to share in a few challenges where I love to play along whenever I'm able.

Thanks so much for stopping by to say hello today.  I always appreciate your visits, and I look forward to stopping by your blog and social media as well.  Have a blessed and creative week.  I hope you're enjoying some cooler temps in your neck of the woods.  It sure is nice to have a (small) break from the extreme heat here in the valley.

I'm playing along in the following:

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge - Challenge #33 - Coffee and Candy/Cookies - I combined my coffee mug with some yummy caramel candy apples and a Christmas sentiment.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Simon Says "Stamp It" - I stamped my sentiment.

Inspiration Station Challenge - September Photo Inspiration - When I think of a farm, I think of apple trees.  I was also inspired by the colors in the photo - brown, green, and red.

Come play along!

Blessings,

Karen

You Had Me at Coffee

If you're anything like me, COFFEE is a big part of crafting.  I almost always have either a vanilla latte or a Strawberry Acai Lemonade on my workstation as I'm making my cards.  Since I'm such a lover of both coffee and card-making, it makes perfect sense that I'd want to play along at the Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge.

I used basic white cardstock layered with an old Crate Paper patterned paper.  I ran a length of Black & White Bold Check Ribbon across my card.  The sentiment and coffee mugs from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, the frame it's in is from Paper Sweeties.  The cute yule log, candy canes and lollypops images are from Whimsy Stamps.

What else?  A couple of sequins for accent, and some plastic candy canes for fun.  The darling coffee beans scattered around my card are from Twiddler's Nook.  They have so many fun confetti mixes in different shapes, etc. at Twiddler's Nook; and the Owner, Amanda, is a sweetheart.  You'll want to check out her fabulous Etsy Shop.

I've loved participating in the Coffee Hops for many years.  In fact, there's one coming up soon for all you coffee-loving card makers out there.  It's always a lot of FUN.  You can stop by to see what Amy and her coffee crew are brewing up at the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Blog as well.

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenges - Challenge #33 - Christmas Coffee with Candy/Treats - YES, PLEASE!  What a perfect combo.  Come and play along.

TIME OUT Challenge Blog - Challenge #271 - Friendship, Encouragement and Support - Nothing tells a friend you're thinking of them better than a handmade card with a Starbucks gift card tucked inside.  This one is going to a special friend who needs some encouragement right now.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Simon Says "Stamp It" - Happy STAMPtember to everyone; especially to our friends at Simon Says Stamp.  I did lots of stamping on this card.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Simon Says "Recycle It" - I "recycled" this card.  I used portions of it in the past, but some things had fallen off, gotten lost, etc., so I gave it a good recycling.  I also used recycled scraps of white cardstock to stamp all the small images.  Make the most of all you've got, right?

Thanks so much for visiting me here today.  Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, get creative and come share your art out in blogland.  See you there.

Blessings,

Karen

Christmas, Coffee and Hearts

What an AWESOME combination for a card.....Christmas, Coffee and Hearts (Love).  Some of my (and our) favorite things, right?  This is a card that I was able to create just for fun.  No DT assignments, no real reason why, but just because it celebrates several of the sweetest things in life.  I was also inspired by some of my favorite challenges when I created this sweet card.

I started with basic black cardstock and I rubbed the edges with white chalk ink.  Next, I added a layer of natural corrugated cardboard.  The next layer is a piece of white/cream watercolor paper that I stamped using the Typewriter Text Stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and also rubbed on a stencilled background in Brick Oxide Ink using their Delightfully Delicate Stencil.  The cute coffee mug and flower-shaped sequin are from Paper Sweeties.  The holly and ivy were cut from wool felt using a die-cut set from Papertrey Ink.

I also added some Black & White Bold Check Gingham Ribbon and lovely piece of Natural Crochet Lace from Really Reasonable Ribbon.    The big layered hearts were cut from red cardstock and black corrugated cardboard using a lovely heart die-cut set also from Papertrey Ink.  I used Making Memories white rub-ons for the sentient.  I've still got oodles of rub-ons that rarely get used any more so I'm trying to work them into some of my projects and use up those old goodies from my stash.  I'm excited to play along in these FUN challenges that I enjoy.

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge Blog - Challenge #14 - Hearts - As I mentioned, I incorporated Christmas, Coffee and Hearts.  How FUN.

Paper Funday Challenge Blog - Challenge #50 - Anything Goes/Lots of Layers - I used loads of paper layers on this sweet card, as I usually tend to do.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Love Is In the Air

Stencil Fun Challenge Blog - January Theme: Winter - The stencil I used is the Delightfully Delicate Stencil from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps VIP Challenge - February - Pink, Green and Cream Color Challenge - I didn't really use pink, but I used lots of green and cream.  I used SNSS Delightfully Delicate Stencil and their Typewriter Text Stamp Set.

I hope you're playing along in some fun challenges this week.

Blessings to you,

Karen