Easy Living Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hi friends! The Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop kicks off this morning and runs through June 30, with tons of prizes up for grabs from 76 fabulous Super Sponsors, including Verve. The sponsored prize from Verve is the upcoming July Release Collection, filled with all sorts of coffee loving stampy goodness! Our release isn't until July 10, but head on over to the Verve Blog today for a sneaky peek. Then pull out your own coffee (or tea or cocoa) stamps and add a little sip of summer to the official blog hop link up for a chance to win!

I started my little sip of summer with distress inks and a scribble stencil.  I had fun blending inks and sipping my iced americano thinking of the afternoon summer sun at the pool. When I was done, the background just seemed to pretty too cover up, so I grabbed the summer time and the living is easy sentiment from Get Together and stamped it onto a die cut vellum circle.  Next I stamped the trio of tea cups from One Cup and sponged with the same trio of colors, just masking off cup with washi tape to do some easy blending.  I then added in little bits of washi for a little texture on the cups and filled in the tag and handle openings with a white sharpie paint pen.  I fussy cut and added in the corner.

Next I sponged the little butterfly from the Graceful Butterflies Die Set with coordinating inks, added a bit of the same washi tape and die cut to add here and there on my project.  A thin black mat to set things off and I was finished.

Alrighty, for another little sip of summer from me, be sure to head on over to the Verve Blog today. And if you feel like doing a little retail therapy, the Verve shop has our summer treats on sale.  Plus you can use gift code  SCL2017 through June 30 to receive an extra 20% off your order!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Get Together, One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, black, vellum
Ink: spiced marmalade, scattered straw, tumbled glass (Ranger), onyx black (Versafine), white pain pen (Sharpie)
Accessories: Graceful Butterflies Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles dies (MFT), washi tape, scribbles stencil (Brett Weldele for Stampers Anonymous)

Classy Little Concept

Hi friends, it's time to kick off another challenge over at The Card Concept.  I chose to make my card in the classy & elegant style, as the inspiration photo had me thinking of these pretty poppies from the Floral Notes stamp set.

I stamped the poppies in archival ink, then watercolored with Daniel Smith watercolors, adding a wash of yellow behind.  I used the coordinating die cut from the Floral Notes Die Set as a mask over my stamped image when I spattered a bit of watered down India ink all over the panel.  A teeny siding of black sets off the panel and I added the sentiment on a Stitched Pennants die cut.

I pulled inspiration from the texture in the photo, adding in the embossed lines with an embossing folder, then tied it all together with some baker's twine and accented with a button and a sprinkling of Shine Bright Sequins.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! For a little more inspiration, head on over to The Card Concept to see what the other fabulous designers are sharing today. Then grab some stamps and join in the fun  Sadly, this will be my last post as part of The Card Concept design team. The challenge is taking a break for the summer and I have decided not to return in the fall, due to those two crazy adorable boys of mine stealing both my heart and my time. {grin} I have truly loved being a part of this challenge, and will miss this wonderful team.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Floral Notes (Verve Stamps)
Paper: watercolor paper, black
Ink: archival black (Ranger), watercolors (Daniel Smith), India ink (Speedball)
Accessories: Stitched Pennants Die Set, Floral Notes Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Shine Bright Sequin Mix (Verve Stamps), baker's twine, button, stripes embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Life Coffee Mojo

Hi friends! Even though the boys are in Montessori through the end of June, summer is in full swing. Somehow all of our swim, tennis, chess, and soccer lessons got squeezed into the month of June and I'm in full Mom chauffeur mode. I think the boys are having fun, but I'm looking forward to a slower pace in July.

I haven't been stamping very much lately, but I have been designing new stamps! Yay!  A few will be releasing very soon and a few missed the seasonal deadline so will be coming next year. I'm starting to feel the time crunch of needing to have releases in order, since the boys will be home full time all of July and August and I'm thinking there won't be a lot of time for focused work. I'm hoping to get them on an independent study schedule in the mornings so I can have a little time to work, but we'll see how it goes!

This morning I wasn't feeling much like staring at a computer, so I grabbed my morning cup of coffee and headed up to the stamp room. Of course, with coffee on the brain, I had to pull out the Coffee Helps stamp set and coordinating Cup for All Seasons Die Set.  I wanted to take another crack at the final Mojo Monday sketch, since my first attempt was flipped horizontally. It's been such an emotional week and a half, reading everyone's posts and comments about the closing of Mojo Monday. My heart is full and I'm touched that so many of you would take the time to share your sweet Mojo stories. It's amazing to read how many of you started blogging just to share your entries! Our final linky will end on Sunday, so there's still time to play if you haven't had a chance yet.

I stamped the life happens coffee helps sentiment in archival black on a stitched rectangle, then stamped and cut out the coffee cup.  I colored with Distress Crayons and a waterbrush, then coated the flowers with glossy accents and sprinkled on some glitter.  The steam is part of a larger rhinestone flourish that I cut down.

The papers are from the C'est la Vie pad by Pink Paislee.  The patterns I chose were all grayscale and I accented the floral patterns with the distress crayons I used for the cup to tie everything together.  A bit of black grosgrain across the back and some black mats all around finish off this card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee Helps (Verve Stamps)
Paper: C'est la Vie (Pink Paislee), black, white
Ink: archival black ink, distress crayons in wilted violet, seedless preserves, dusty concord, broken china, tumbled glass, peacock feathers and ground espresso (Ranger)
Accessories: Cup for All Seasons Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), glossy accents (Ranger), glitter, black grosgrain (SU!), rhinestone embellishment