For the Love of Coffee and You

Howdy, well, I had a little free time this morning to craft, before I had to run.  Literally.  I ran my first race of the year, this morning.  10K.  I'm not a fast runner.  11 minute miles.  But, I also don't think that I'm slow.  Anyway, the group of folks who ran today's race, run faster than me.  But, I am happy with my time.   And it was a beautiful day, to hit the pavement.  {smile}

I made a sweet pink heart card yesterday, and wanted to make another.  But this time a little less shabby, but still all girl!  So, I am playing along with a few of my favorite challenges.

The wonderful folks over @ Verve Stamps, have a free digital stamp set they are giving away.  And, it is perfect for all you coffee lovers.  So, that's me {smile}!  So the challenge on their blog, is to use the free digital stamp set.  No other requirements.  Well, except to have fun!  Check.

I also stopped by the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog to see what their current challenge is - Hearts and as always, use ribbon, trim, lace, or twine on your project.   Check.

I always love stopping by the wonderful Word Art Wednesday challenge blog.  These ladies are sure to inspire you!  Their current challenge is (as always): Anything Goes & Family Friendly.  Check.

And finally, a challenge site I visit often for inspiration: The Paper Players.  This group of super talented ladies, will certainly inspire you!  Their current challenge is: will you be my Valentine?  

and here is what I created:

I am pretty happy with how my card turned out.  {smile}  I was having coffee with a few girl friends on Saturday morning, and yes, we were at a Starbucks.  They had these pink heart gift cards, along with red heart gift cards.  I just couldn't pass these beauties by!  So, I picked up the pink one, and knew I wanted to make a Valentine's Day card with it on the front.  

Recipe:  The card measures the traditional A2 size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I used kraft card stock for the base.  The matt is Lavender Moon card stock by Paper Trey Ink.  The pattern paper is from 10 yrs ago, and I only had a 6" x 10" piece left, before I started.  I am not sure of the manufacturer or the name of the pattern.  The pattern paper has large, medium, and small blossoms, in various shades of pinks and purples, with a few orange blossoms.  The leaves and stems are all this beautiful deep, rich brown.  There are also some cream colored swirls and blossoms.  Just beautiful, and I hope you understand why I kept my scraps.  {smile}

I printed my digital stamp set, from Verve Stamps, onto white linen card stock, by Paper Trey Ink.  I just love printing on textured card stock.  It gives my projects a beautiful and rich touch.  I matted my sentiment rectangle onto a scrap piece of Lavender Moon and Kraft card stocks.  Those adorable coffee cups are included in the digital stamp set.  I used my markers to color the coffee cups.  I used Pumpkin Pie classic ink, and Regal Rose classic ink, by Stampin' Up! to give the hearts on the cups a coordinating color wash.  I used my Pink Pirouette classic ink marker to color the coffee cups.  For the coffee cuff, I used scrap pieces of the main panel.  This darker pink and orange circle pattern paper is actually the reverse side of the floral main panel.  I used foam squares to 'pop' the coffee cups off the card front.  

My beautiful pink heart, is actually a new gift card from Starbucks.  I just love how creative and inventive these folks are.  There was already a hole in the heart, so I simply tied some Chocolate Brown twill ribbon, by Paper Trey Ink into a simple bow.  I used a few foam squares to help 'pop' the heart gift card off the card front.

Now, I will need to swing by Starbucks tomorrow morning, on my way to work, and pick up a red one, to add to the front of a Valentine's Day card, too!

Thank you for looking.  I hope that you have been inspired to play along with any/all of these challenges.  

Bunco Reminder

Howdy!  Well, I have been a little busy getting stuff together for my turn to Host Bunco next month.  I know what you are thinking. . . next month, you have gobs of time.  Well, kinda no.  I have prizes to make, a menu to develop, clean the house, celebrate 4th of July, and everything else the rest of folks have to do (work, chores, raise children/grandchildren, and take care of ourselves).

I send out a reminder card, when it is my turn to  host.  And yeah, it fits my 'theme' {smile}.  This year's theme is 'farmland'.  I needed a sketch challenge, to help me get those creative juices moving.  So, I went to Retro Sketches.  They have some beautifully simple sketches, that allow you to really embellish, or keep it clean and simple, and everything in-between.  So, that's where I started!

See what I mean!  Simply beautiful and full of a lot of potentials.  And here is what I did!

The card base is crumb cake card stock by Stampin' Up!.  I love their card stock.  It is a nice heavy weight, that is perfect for card bases as well as another paper craft.

The wood-grain pattern paper is actually a digital download.  I just love the mix of wood-grain, florals, and text.  It's so pretty, country, and simply worn.  I matted this pattern paper onto a piece of Aqua Mist cards stock by Paper Trey Ink, and did a simple machine stitch along the four sides.

The pink gingham pattern paper is also a digital download.  I love this mix of patterns for the same reasons. {smile}

I wrapped a cream twill ribbon by Paper Trey Ink around these two matted pieces and machine stitched the ribbon to the card front.  I tied a simple bow.

The jar is stamped in crumb cake classic ink onto very vanilla card stock, both by Stampin' Up!  The jar is from Paper Trey Ink.  Then I stamped the polka dots onto the jar in Soft Sky classic ink, by Stampin' Up!.  I fussy cut the jar out, and wrapped some cram twine, by Paper Trey Ink, around the mouth of the jar.  I added a tag, by Paper Trey Ink.  I stamped the tag in Baked Brown Sugar classic ink, and the sentiment in the same color ink.  Fussy cut the tag out, and used a hand-held hole punch.  Tied the cream twine into a simple bow.

The burlap-lace ribbon is from a big-box craft store.  I thought it added a bit of country charm.   The sentiment banner is from a new stamp set I purchased from Inspired by Stamping.  I stamped the sentiment in Basic Grey classic ink and used a square punch to create the flagged ends.

I added two vintage buttons (white and aqua mist) to the right side of the jar, and a white paper blossom to the left side of the jar.  I distressed the paper blossom by brushed some picket dense distressing paint on the petal tips and added some dazzling diamond glitter to give it some sparkle.  The leaves were cut from a text paper.

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope you found some inspiration, or at least something pretty to look at!

Two Challenges Come Together

Wow, it's already Thursday.  This week, ok, this year is just flying by!  I am still working on some items for the few craft fairs that I am participating in this holiday season.  And the time I have to 'create' keeps getting interrupted with nonsense.

So, to help with the creative flow, I have decided to work with a sketch by Card Patterns, and use the color challenge by Creative Sketches.

Here is the sketch:

Here are the colors and inspiration photo:  So Saffron, Riding Hood Red, and More Mustard

Here is my card:

This challenge was just that for me...a challenge.  Right now I am working on different Christmas themed items, and any other scheme, is a challenge.  I hope you like it, and this card gives you some inspiration and a desire to play along!  We want to see what you can create with these perfect fall colors!

Mixing Pattern Papers

Hello!  A quick house keeping note: tomorrow, is your last chance to enter my drawing for some free Blog Candy!  So, please make sure that you stop by tomorrow.  All you have to do is sign-up as a follower, and if you already are - Thank You.  Then answer the last paper crafting question.  Your name is then entered into the virtual 'pot' and I will select 3 winners.  There are two $25 winners and one $50 winner.

Ok, now back to the business at hand.  I have a girl friend who ask me if I could help her with mixing pattern papers.   She likes some of the things I have done, and wants a few pointers.  

The first and easiest way to mix pattern papers, is to use products from the same company (i.e. Stampin' Up!, Basic Grey, Paper Trey Ink, etc.).  That way your colors will match.  Then, if you use pattern papers from the same collection (Tea Time, Sweet Threads, etc.) they all coordinate.  The company has basically taken the guess work out of the equation, and simplified it.  But, you can take papers from various companies and achieve this same effect, it's just a little trickier.  The other pointer I have is that the busier/large pattern papers tend to be the 'heaviest', and so these should be used on larger scale items.  To bring out a 'less used' color, repeat it (i.e. if you love the yellow used in a floral pattern, use that color on the mat).  

You can also use a repeating color.  My first card illustrates this tip.  The brown and vanilla are repeated, but they are also paired with different patterns.  The main pattern has the brown, and pink.  To introduce the vanilla, I added a brown and vanilla polka dot paper.   But this also repeats the brown, so it looks like it 'belongs'.   To 'anchor' the brown, I added a solid piece of brown.  I did the same for the vanilla by adding an accent piece in just vanilla, the crochet trim.  To give the card some visual interest, I added a paper flower made from a text pattern. 

You can also repeat a shape.  My second card is the perfect example of that.  There are circles in the main pattern paper, both accent pieces used at the top, the top layer of the butterfly, the doily, and the button.  

There you have it!  My quick and easy lesson on Mixing Pattern Papers!  I hope this helped, and Thank You for visiting today!  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for your last chance to enter my Blog Candy give-a-way!