Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - Cup of Cheer

Don't you love it when you can create not one but two cards in one session? I know I do!

For my second card today, I printed one of the background papers of the Time for Tea digital collection from Nitwit Collections onto satin finish paper by Crafter's Companion (another product I've had for ages but never used until now) and I also printed an old freebie from Meljen's Design onto Neenah solar white cardstock. After colouring the image with Spectrum Noir coloured pencils, I die cut the panel using the stitched rectangle die by SugarPea Designs from the Stamp of Approval Young at Heart collection and used the scallop die from the same set to die cut a mat for my panel. I stamped a sentiment from the Holiday Treats stamp set byVerve Stamps using Archival jet black ink. I adhered my layers using my tape runner and added a touch of clear Wink of Stella to the cheeks and then added some glossy accents to the cheeks and the hearts.

I'm linking my card at:
Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop
ATSM - 186 Anything goes
Creative Card Crew - 109 CAS
Sweet Stamps - March Anything goes

Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - Cup of Kitty

When I was browsing the files on my computer for some coffee or tea themed digital stamps, I came across this Time for Tea digital collection by Nitwit Collections that I purchased years ago but never got to use. Sound familiar? In addition to some lovely papers and embellishments, I also found this 'swatch', which instantly reminded me of the new sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches.

I decided to combine the swatch with a Cup of Kitty, a digi stamp that I purchased from Tiddly Inks not so long ago. To cover up the swatch number at the top, I used one of the violet flowers from the digital collection. After arranging the digital elements in Word in the bottom left corner of a Letter sized document, I placed duplicates of my kitty and violet in the bottom right corner of my document and sent this to my printer to be printed onto Neenah solar white cardstock.

I coloured my duplicate image using Spectrum Noir coloured pencils, blending the colours using odouless mineral spirits and a paper stump, and then fussy cut the image and the duplicate violet (to which I had also added a little extra colour using my coloured pencils). I mounted them onto my scored and cut card panel using foam tape. To finish off, I added a few sequins, glossy accents and clear Wink of Stella and rounded the corners of my card.

Edited to add: After reading some of the comments, I think it's only fair to add that the sentiment was already printed onto the swatch. That's why I thought this kitty in a cup would make the perfect focal point for this background.

I'm linking my card at:
Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop
CAS Colours & Sketches - Sketch 166 (see below)
Cards in Envy - Just purple
Polkadoodles Crafting challenge - 12 Cream and sugar
ABC Challenge - D is for Delicious

Birthday balloons

I have one more card to share for the new CAS Mix Up challenge that Loll and Bonnie started this month.

I started with a panel of watercoloured card from my stash of panels that I had previously dipped into some leftover distress ink (smooshing). At the time, I didn't think much of my smooshed panel, but it turned out to be the perfect backdrop for my balloons from one of the SugarPea Design stamp sets that was included in the Stamp of Approval Young at Heart collection. I inked up the stamps with distress ink and spritzed with water before stamping. I used a damp paint brush to move the colour a little or to add a little more colour . I also used my paint brush to add some splatters using the same inks. After my stamping and splatters were dry, I heat embossed the sentiment by Wplus9 in gold (Ranger) and added strings to the balloons using a black Micron pen. I adhered my panel to the front of my card base using my tape runner and rounded the corners using my corner chomper.

Challenges:

CAS Mix Up - stamping, watercolour and element of choice (splatters and heat embossing)

Creative Card Crew - 109 CAS

ATSM - 186 Anything goes

Stamplorations CAS card challenge - Anything CAS goes (optional: yellow)

Seize the Birthday - Anything birthday goes (topping: water - I used water to create my card)

A Vintage Christmas

Although creating vintage cards is rather out of my comfort zone, I was determined to play along with the lovely Jingle Belles this fortnight for some very good reasons: I love playing at Jingle Belles, I need to get going with my Christmas cards and I still have this practically untouched SSS card kit of December 2012 containing only vintage-themed papers...

All the papers for this card are from the SSS card kit, as is the wonderful ribbon. The bold sentiment is from the Big holiday wishes set by SSS (stamped in Altenew Dark chocolate ink) and the die cut stars were cut from a scrap of Co'redinations cardstock using the (Large) Holiday shapes die sets by SSS. The design was inspired by last week's Sketch Saturday sketch (no. 403).

Challenges:
Jingle Belles - Spirit of Christmas past
Christmas Card Challenge - 16 Photo inspiration or Anything Christmas goes
CHNC - 273 Cute Christmas or Anything Christmas goes
CHNC Extra - Always Anything Christmas goes
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 221 (I used snippets to create my stars and the strip behind my ribbon)
Sparkles Christmas Challenges - 62 Old-fashioned Christmas
Holly Jolly Christmas - 69 Use your stash

Birthday cake

For today's card, I combined watercolouring with 2 different stamp sets and a die by SugarPea Designs from the SOA Young at Heart collection. This is a really versatile collection of stamps, dies and a stencil, and it was hard to decide which supplies to use first...

After creating my watercolour background using distress inks, I stamped the sentiment and the bottom layer of my cake using Versamark ink and heat embossed using WOW gold embossing powder. I added more colour to the bottom layer using Picked raspberry distress ink and then stamped the top cake layer and the candle using Altenew inks, and when the ink was dry, I heat embossed the second candle image from the set in gold ep.
After die cutting my panel using a stitched rectangle die (SSS), I added a little frosting to my cake layers using a stencil I had die cut using one of the SugarPea dies accompanying the cake stamp set, Ranger Texture paste and a little Altenew Buttercream ink (so fitting lol). After my frosting was dry, I added foam tape to the back of my panel and mounted the panel onto my card base.

Edited for Darnell's Boo Boo hop to tell you about my Boo Boo.
My card started life as a perfect one-layer card, but before I added the frosting to the cake, I decided to run my card through my Cuttlebug to flatten it out...folded and with another piece of cardstock as a shim... Not a good idea... The edges of my shim were embossed on my front panel and the heat embossed sentiment left an imprint on the inside of my card. I felt so lucky that I managed to salvage my panel by die cutting it and layering it on top of a new card...

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up - Stamping, watercolouring and your choice (heat embossing, embossing paste)
Right at Home - National craft month celebration blog hop (showcase your favourite crafty things - watercolours, SOA box and my trusted stitched rectangle die)
Stamplorations March CAS challenge - Anything CAS goes (optional colour twist: yellow)

Joy to the World

Today, I had a little play with my Winsor & Newton water colours, after unwrapping the half pans that I bought last summer...

Ingredients:
- A wash of W&N Payne's grey onto W&N water colour cardstock
- A few splatters of the same water colour
- Die cut/inlaid Memory Box snowflake (Twinkling Snowflake Duet, a recent win) from silver glitter paper from my stash
- Sentiment, star and tiny dot stamps from the Snowy Sayings set by CAS-ual Fridays (part of the SOA Christmas collection) stamped in Archival black
- Stitched rectangle die (Bundle of Stitched Shapes by Simon Says Stamp)
- Black cardstock (Crafter's Companion)

Challenges:
Merry Monday - 196 Black, white and grey/silver
Freshly Made Sketches - Sketch 228 (flipped)
CAS Mix Up - Stamping, watercolouring and third element (die cutting, splatter)
Addicted to CAS - 84 Delicate

Christmas flip card

Today's card was quick to make but took a long time to finish, because I found it to be too bland. So I put it aside for several months and then had another look at in and decided that all it needed was some sparkly heat embossed stars and snowflakes and rounded corners.

The cute image and sentiments are from a NBUS stamp set by The Cat's Pajamas.

The flip/easel card die and frame dies are also by TCP (Fancy Flip and Fancy Flip Frames). I used the frames on my cards in this post, but I had never used the flip card frame before.

The cute image was coloured using Promarkers. After fussy cutting the images, I popped them up using foam tape. The PP is from the Signature Christmas paper pad by MME.

Challenges:

NBUS challenge #6 - The sweet Darnell is always encouring us to use our Never-Before-Used-Schtuff and is hosting a special challenge for her followers twice a year.

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Cute Christmas

Passion for Promarkers - 336 Cute critters

CHNC -  271Vintage Christmas or Anything Christmas goes.

CHNC Extra - Always Anything Christmas goes