Saturday Coffee Cafe - Books 'n Brew

 

Happy Saturday and welcome to the Cafe!  I'm so glad you stopped in today to see what's brewing...

I have a hard time just sitting to relax. I don't watch TV or take naps.  I'm always 'doing' something - even if it's 'doing' something that I find relaxing like crafting.  One of my favorite ways to relax is grabbing a fresh cup of coffee and a good book!  I recently finished reading "Washington's Immortals"  and just started "The Indispensables" - both by Patrick K. O'Donnell...and got to enjoy some awesome Kona coffee from Hawaii that my daughter brought back for me when she was vacationing there.

For my card, I embossed kraft cardstock with Altenew Organic Linen 3D Embossing Folder and adhered the piece to the cardbase.  How fun are these book, glasses and floral dies?!!  They are from SugarPea Designs Open Book dies and the cup is from SugarPea Designs Coffee Cuties dies.  The sentiment is STAMPlorations Good Books and Coffee.

 

Coffee and Crafting

 

I can't believe we're almost wrapping up the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Hop!  Hopefully, you've had time to join the fun and have been enjoying all the wonderful creations that have been linked up!!

There's still ONE MORE DAY left!   LINK UP your Spring/Summer COFFEE OR TEA projects for a chance to win (pssst...there are TONS of prizes to be won from over 60 Super Sponsors!! Winners are randomly selected from entries)!  Enter as many projects as you'd like!  This hop is SO much fun and filled with incredible inspiration, too -- see you on the hop!

 

I managed to get a couple cards completed tonight...with some extra caffeine!  For this card, I layered a design from Trinity Stamps Black & White slimline paper pad onto the card base.  These fun cup shapes were created using STAMPlorations Zen Coffee Cups Layering Dies and the sweet crafty images are from Gina K Designs Crafty Notes!

Saturday Coffee Cafe - Awesomeness!

 Hey, Coffee Loving fans!  Glad you stopped in to the Cafe today because there's something purrrr-fect brewing!

It may seem like a black cat walked in front of the entire world these last several months, but this little kitty is bringing only awesomeness...coffee awesomeness!

For my card, I layered cardstock and pattern paper for the background.  This sweet little coffee-loving kitty is a die from Waffle Flower called Be A Cat...I just love him!  He's holding a glittery mug of java that was created with MFT Stamps Hot Cocoa Cups.  I white embossed one the STAMPlorations sentiments in the Fond Expressions set then cut it out using one of the Pink & Main Stitched Oval dies.

Hope YOUR day is filled with awesomeness...and a fabulous cup of your favorite brew!

 

Coffee Shake Up

It's Day 3 of the fabulous Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Hop!  Hope you're able to join in the fun!

The hop is from May 22-May 29, 2020.   LINK UP your Spring/Summer coffee/tea projects for a chance to win (pssst...there are TONS of prizes to be won - winners are randomly selected from entries)!  Enter as many projects as you'd like!  This hop is SO much fun and filled with incredible inspiration, too -- see you on the hop!

Today my card was created with something old and something new!  I found this pretty paper in my stash (wish I knew what company it came from!) and the Stamplorations coffee word die.  The new item used is the Tonic Studios Shaker Creator - Tea/Coffee Cups.  It was super easy to put together and I filled it with an assortment of sequins I had on hand.

Now I'm heading back to my craft room to make more coffee/tea cards for the hop!

Saturday Coffee Cafe - Flash Back

 Welcome to the Saturday Coffee (Virtual) Cafe!  It's Spring here, but like everything else in the world right now, we're still waiting for things (in this case, the weather) to settle down.  We've had 70 degree weather one day, torrential rainstorms the next and yesterday snow flurries!  It makes me want to think about how things were last April...what a difference!

 I'm not usually one to live in the past, but I couldn't help but think about what I was doing last April.  I was creating this card. I was happily looking forward to Spring, my favorite season, and enjoying watching nature come back to life after the long winter.  I was shopping for flowers and sitting on a restaurant's patio with friends for dinner or drinks. This April is a 'little' different, but the hope of renewal is here this Easter weekend and I know I'll be enjoying those things again soon!

 The image on this card is one of my favorite stamps from STAMPlorations called Cups of Blooms 2.  I enjoyed copic coloring these beautiful flowers in the coffee cup.  The delicate butterfly, Flutter Zen 1, is also from STAMPLorations.

Stay well, friends!  You're so very special!! 

Rustic Coffee To Go

 It's Day Three of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!  With hundreds of coffee/tea/cocoa cards and 81 Super Sponsors who are donating prizes, this is the best blog hop yet!!

Today my card features several fun STAMPlorations products:

Anywhere There's Coffee stamp/die

Two Reindeer Dies (antlers)

Stitched Winter Landscape

Saturday Coffee Cafe - Thank You Coffee

Hey, there Coffee/Tea fans and welcome to the Saturday Coffee Cafe!  I'm thrilled you decided to stop in today to see what's brewing!

Honestly, it isn't often that I 'ooh, ahh' over my own work, but this STAMPlorations set is so gorgeous and just came to life after the image was colored in that I even surprised myself :)

To start, I layered kraft cardstock on to the card base then two patterns from Bo Bunny Stay Awhile 6x6 pad.  Using one of the Stitched Tags Nesting Dies, I cut kraft cardstock for a backdrop.

This lovely coffee cup and floral image from STAMPlorations Thank You Coffee set is copic colored and fussy cut.  To finish, I stamped the sentiment from this set and added grape colored embellishments.

Super Sponsor STAMPlorations is currently having a 6th Birthday sale now through the end of June on all products in the Birthday Section.

STAMPlorations June CUTplorations Challenge

Yay!  Today begins a new STAMPlorations CUTplorations Challenge!  These month's inspiration photo...

Here's the challenge scoop:

• You can link up as many projects as you want (1 project per blog post)
• You must use at least 1 STAMPlorations product (stamp, stencil, die, or coloring page, or grab a FREE STAMPloration digi stamp)
• To qualify for the prize, players must display challenge graphic and link back to the challenge post (blogs only)

Prizes: $15 GC for the winner (voted by the team); $5 GC to three (3) randomly picked players.

The inspiration photo made me think of spring and bright colors!

For my project, I began by cutting black cardstock using the largest tag in the Stitched Tags Nesting Dies set (it measures 6.45" x 3.75"!)  Then, using the Trendy Spring Bloom Dies, I cut several spring-colored cardstock and arranged the flowers/leaves on the tag/card.  To finish, I cut shiny, gold cardstock with the "You Are My Sunshine" word phrase die.

STAMPlorations May CUTplorations Challenge

Welcome to May and a new STAMPlorations CUTplorations Challenge!

Here's the challenge scoop:

• You can link up as many projects as you want (1 project per blog post)
• You must use at least 1 STAMPlorations product (stamp, stencil, die, or coloring page, or grab a FREE STAMPloration digi stamp)
• To qualify for the prize, players must display challenge graphic and link back to the challenge post (blogs only)

Prizes: $15 GC for the winner (voted by the team); $5 GC to three (3) randomly picked players.

For my card, I layered a dark brown cardstock onto the card base.  I then created a background using Distress Oxide Antique Linen and STAMPlorations Weaving stencil.  This beautiful cup die is part of the Zen Coffee Cup Layering Dies set which first cut the solid cup die from gold cardstock, cut one of the decorative cup dies from dark brown cardstock as the 'frame' and then  'colored' in using the inlaid die technique with several colors of cardstock.

To finish, I cut bright blue cardstock using the Rise & Grind Phrase Die and added a few gold sequins. 

Looking forward to seeing what you create for this month's challenge!

STAMPlorations New Stencil Designer!

We have some very exciting news...our very own Helen Gullett has designed a fabulous line of stencils for STAMplorations and we're celebrating with a super fun blog hop!

 Helen has done an incredible job on these stencils!  Each one contains two fab designs that can be used in so many ways.

For my first card, I created a grass and sky background with distress oxide inks and used Helen's Make Marks 4 stencil as geometric 'blades of grass" - so fun!  The houses are from the Carved Houses set that I stamped in bright colors and the sentiment was cut from shiny gold cardstock using the "Life Is Good" Phrase Die.

For my next card, I used the Make Marks 3 stencil sponging dark brown distress oxide ink - I thought these circles looked a little like coffee rings or beans :)  Then I used the Make Marks 6 stencil and applied a glittery metallic embossing paste.  The coffee image and sentiment are from the STAMPlorations And Coffee set.

Be sure to hop with us to see the wonderful projects the Design Team is sharing highlighting Helen's new stencil line!

STAMPlorations Spring Fling Hop + Giveaways!

 Is it Spring yet?  It certainly is at STAMPlorations as we are celebrating a Spring Fling with 12 days of giveaways and specials!  You can leave a comment below, on the STAMPlorations blog and/or the blogs of the Design Team to be entered to win -- the more you enter, the better your chances!

Prizes: There will be one prize awarded each day between April 1-12th. Commenting ends on Friday, April 19, with winners announced in a special post on Monday, April 22.

Day 1 - $15 gift certificate

Day 2 - Choice of 3 in-stock 3x5 stamp sets ($21 value)

Day 3 - $25 gift code

Day 4 - Choice of 3 Sanna Lippert Designs stencils ($15 value)

Day 5 - Choice of 1 in-stock 4x6 Dee's Artsy Impressions stamp set ($15 value)

Day 6 - Choice of 1 cover plate die ($25 value)

Day 7 - Choice of 1 in-stock 4x6 The Bee's Knees stamp set ($15 value)

Day 8 - Choice of 1 in-stock Big Grins by Becca Cruger stamp set ($15 value)

Day 9 - Choice of 3 in-stock CUTplorations word/phrase dies (up to $30 value)

Day 10 - Choice of 1 4x8 stamp set ($20 value)

Day 11 - Choice of 1 in-stock 4x6 Shery Russ Designs stamp set ($15 value)

Day 12 - $15 gift certificate

Day 17 (extra prize) - three winners of $10 gift codes

April store promotion: All throughout April, products in the SPRING FLING section will be 25% off instantly.  If you use my code below (StampGirlKathy), you'll receive an additional 20% off !!

Let me start by saying that I struggle with mixed media.  I'm awed by the beautiful projects the STAMPlorations mixed media girls create and keep trying to make this style/technique work for me.  I have to admit, I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out (you don't want to see what some of the others looked like!)

 To start, I created a background with alcohol inks in bright, spring colors and mixed in some gold.  Then, I used STAMPlorations Foiled Again Mini Stencil and a creamy pearl embossing paste to add texture to two corners.  The butterflies and sentiments are from Trendy Butterflies which I stamped in black then blended distress oxide ink over them.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to leave a comment below, on the STAMPlorations blog and/or the blogs of the Design Team to be entered to win -- the more you enter, the better your chances!