One Cup at a Time

Hi friends! It's National Coffee Day, so I have a sweet little coffee card to share with you. This sentiment is one that's resonated with me this week as our whole family has battled a respiratory virus. Lots of middle of the night wake ups and coughing and asthma attacks that don't allow for much sleep, so the coffee and the tea have been going in equal amounts all week long!

Last night I sat down to stamp while the boys were watching Thursday night football and couldn't help but pick up that Zella Teal pad again. These papers are seriously so pretty!  I chose two designs, then layered them, cutting off the excess for the skewed panel. Then I sponged both with first pumice stone and then hickory smoke distress ink before glueing together.

The cup is from the Happiness Is stamp set and I stamped it directly on the patterned paper in hickory smoke, then sponged with the same inks and fussy cut. The sentiment is from the One Cup set and I embossed it in white on a vellum stitched circle then matted with a larger vellum stitched circle.

I bought a pack of Zella Teal flowers specifically for this butterfly.  Love, love, love. I also recently purchased some Rose Quartz butterflies and Wild & Free butterflies, and so I used copics to color the butterflies to match and tucked them in around my cup, adding a bit of glittery nuvo drops to the aqua butterfly.

Well, that's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by today! Lots of our local coffee shops are having buy one get one free drinks today, so I'm sure to be celebrating National Coffee Day in style.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Happiness Is, One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Zella Teal (Prima), white (Neenah)
Ink: hickory smoke, pumice stone (Ranger Distress), Versamark, Copic markers
Accessories: Zella Teal flowers, Rose Quartz butterflies, Wild & Free butterflies (Prima), white embossing powder, stiched circle dies

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)

Coffee Notes

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday!  I'm back with another card for the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. The past few Fridays I've made a point to work in a little mixed media in the afternoon. This is the result of yesterday's experiments.

Did you know when you mix tiptop taupe, cajun craze, white and some aqua paint you end up with a beautiful purplish pink?  Kind of fun to see how colors mix when you're too impatient to hit things with a heat gun in between layers. {grin}  Anyhow I started with a bit of heavy gesso on some Fabriano watercolor paper, then used a leftover piece of cardstock cut with a Tim Holtz die as a stencil to add whipped spackle to it.  For those of you who asked last time I used this, it's a super light, creamier version of spackling (the kind you use to fix holes on your walls), that's a lot like light modeling paste or texture paste.  It's great for stenciling, adding dimension and because it's so light, dries relatively quickly.

So after that was dry, I swiped some tiptop taupe and cajun craze inks onto my craft mat and then did a little watercolor wash over the top first with tip top taupe and then with cajun craze.  Next I scraped on some aqua paint, then went back in with some heavy gesso and a palette knife to scrape a bit of white space back in.

I found a 7 Gypsies ticket in my stash, and loved how there was just enough room to stamp the word Coffee as every one of the notes.  I added the is happiness in a cup sentiment from the One Cup sentiment, embossed in copper on vellum, then layered this over the ticket, adding a bit of tissue tape and a library clip to attach it.

From some of the excess of the aqua panel, I stamped the cup from Get Together in early espresso and cut with the coordinating Cup for All Seasons.  A bit of antique linen softened the edges up just a bit.

For the cream panel, I embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, then sponged with antique linen.  I scraped aqua paint and some of the leftover cajun craze and tip top taupe inks over it, then finished with a bit of heavy gesso.  I tied a linen thread bow around this panel, accenting with a vintage brad.  To finish off, I added some wood veneer leaves from Stampin' Up.  I may have bought a quintillion of these a couple years ago and was so happy to have rediscovered them in the closet yesterday.  I watercolored them with the leftover inks on my craft mat, then added just a bit of detailing to the solid leaf with a cajun craze marker.  A tiptop taupe card base and a bunch of distressed edges finished things off.

Alrighty, that's my card in a rather long nutshell.  If you're still reading, thanks so much for hanging out with me today! I hope you're enjoying all the coffee loving cards along the hop.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee, Get Together, One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: tip top taupe (SU!), cream (Neenah), watercolor paper (Fabriano)
Ink: cajun craze, tip top taupe, early espresso (SU!), antique linen (Ranger Distress), Versamark, aqua acrylic paint, heavy gesso
Accessories: Cup for All Seasons (A Cut Above by VERVE), Mixed Media dies, tissue tape (Tim Holtz), linen thread, mini library clip, leaf wood veneer, vintage brad (SU!), ticket (7 Gypsies), Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder (Cuttlebug), paper distresser, copper embossing powder, whipped spackle (Faber Castell)

Life by the Cup

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a new Mojo Monday sketch! Thanks to everyone who left such sweet comments and made such wonderful cards for our 400th Mojo celebration!  I've got my work cut out for me to choose winners in the next couple of days!

My card for today started out with a few scraps that were on my desk.  I got up early on Saturday morning and snuck in a little time in the studio.  Usually weekends are packed from sunup to sundown with the boys, so it was a special treat to get up and play while they slept in a bit.  I was just playing for fun, making a card you'll see later testing a few watercolor techniques with distress inks. The panel that the sentiment is stamped on is actually a piece of cardstock I used to wipe up the excess twisted citron and mermaid lagoon ink I had on my craft sheet.  And it ended up being my favorite part!

So I stamped the One Cup sentiment in archival black, cut the panel down to size, and used the excess to stamp the cup and hand trim.  I added some Botanical remnant rubs for the birds in the corner and the butterfly on the cup.  The side panel and background for the cup circle are from a Kaiser Craft pad and I watercolored them with the same color inks.  They butterflies were a bit more vibrant than I wanted in the background, so I layered a piece of vellum with them and finished off with some black ribbon.

Today's card was also inspired by the Summer Coffee Lover's Bloghop.  I've been having a super fun time inking up my coffee and tea stamps in non-traditional coffee colors.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you enjoy this week's sketch and have a fun time getting inky!

Enabler's List

Mojo Monday 401 Sketch

Stamps: One Cup  (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Black & White Timeless (Kaiser Craft), basic black, white, vellum
Ink: black archival, twisted citron, mermaid lagoon distress inks (Ranger)
Accessories:  Botanicals Remnant Rubs (Stampers Anonymous), circle punches (EK Success), pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), black grosgrain (SU!)

Always Good

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  I'm kicking off our May series of sketches over on the Viva la Verve blog today.  I love how this card came together and just had to turn it into a sketch for y'all.  Hope you have fun with it and I'd love to see what you create!

I pulled out the One Cup set and started with the teacups.  I stamped them in archival ink on designer paper and then colored with copic markers.  I added a few accents with a white an a black stabilo marks all pencil.  Just got a couple of these to try and am amazed that they really do write over just about any media!

The tea panel was made with manila cardstock, sponged with distress inks, then I used a Tim Holtz stencil for the tea rings, making the main one with thick gesso and then coloring with various browns.  I used the same stencil on the background paper and ran it through the corrugator for a little extra texture.  The good idea sentiment is stamped on manila cardstock and added under the teacups.  I also added a little tea bag to the Tea word and then dressed some grosgrain ribbon up with rhinestones.

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

Viva la Verve May Week 1 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found - Antique (MME), manila cardstock (Ranger), basic black (SU!)
Ink: spiced marmalade, barn door, scattered straw, walnut stain, vintage photo, black soot distress inks, black archival ink (Ranger), stabilo marks all pencils
Accessories: grosgrain ribbon (SU!), rhinestones, paper corrugator, Splatters stencil (Tim Holtz)

Cup of Tea

Hi friends!  It's Friday again and time for a brand new sketch over on the Viva la Verve blog.  This week's hostess is the lovely Stacey.

I received a shipment of out of stock stamps this week, so couldn't wait to pull out the One Cup set for a little inky time.  Although my cough has finally subsided, I still have a very scratchy throat (probably from months of continuous coughing), so I've been drinking less coffee and more tea lately. The Lost & Found Antique paper pad from My Mind's Eye caught my eye when I was looking through paper, so pulled it out and went with a black, cream and red theme.

I'm also on a kick to use some of the mountains of washi I keep collecting.  So a washi banner up top was a must, just folded over a piece of twine and adhered to the card.  Next I stamped the sentiment from One Cup on a Rounded Rectangle die cut and colored with Copics.  I also colored a piece of cream cardstock with Copics and cut out with the Award Banner Trim die to match my colored tea cup.  I finished off with some bows on the ends of my banner and a little matching washi on the sides of my sentiment panel.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your weekend!

VLV April Week 4 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found Antique (MME), cream
Ink: black archival (Ranger), copic markers
Accessories: Rounded Rectangle Die, Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by Verve), washi tape, tiny attacher, baker's twine

Coffee Lovers Bloghop

Hi friends!  Today is National Coffee Day and I'm participating in a super fun Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  The fun all starts on Chaitali's blog at 6AM PST, so be sure to head on over there for the full hop list.  If you play along and link up your coffee creations today you could win some fabulous prizes!

And since it's Mojo Monday, I'm sharing my card made with this week's tall & skinny sketch.  I flipped the position of the banners for my card and added some linen thread, but otherwise stayed pretty true to my sketch.  {grin}  I think it's so funny that I have such a hard time sticking to my own sketch.  I think it's that whole "nobody puts Baby in a corner" mindset.  {grin}

About the card: I started by stamping the trio of cups from One Cup three times (masking off the top cup to stamp each successive trio) on crumb cake, then coloring with prismacolor pencils.  Next I stamped the hand-lettered coffee sentiment and the always a good idea stamp from the Coffee set to the left of my stamped cups.  I used the other coffee sentiments in the Coffee set to stamp on the three hand cut banners, then added some pencil coloring to the coffee letters and some sponging all around.  I finished with a bit of mossy meadow cardstock up top and some white linen thread tied in a bow.

And in honor of National Coffee Day, I've got a little one day gift code for y'all to Verve Stamps. Just enter gift code COFFEE in the gift code box at the bottom of our shopping cart and click apply and it will take 10% off your order.  Offer valid on in-stock merchandise on September 29, 2014 only. 

Someone suggested we answer a few coffee related questions on the hop, so here are my answers.

When did you start drinking coffee?
I snuck drinks of my Dad's coffee growing up, but he told me it would turn my hair black, so I stuck to just sips, wanting to preserve my golden locks.  {grin}  Maybe he was right, because I have dark hair now (by choice, not by nature, though!)  My parents drank instant coffee back then, so it wasn't all that great of a loss for me.  When I went to college I discovered how much better coffee brewed from grounds was and thanks to friends and a roommate from the Seattle area, developed quite a love for coffee.  My first experience with espresso was a quad shot that my roommate talked me into at a coffee shop in downtown Boise late on a Friday night.  Oh my!  I was so wired... the quad is definitely something you need to work up to if you've never had espresso!

What is your favorite brand of coffee?
It's changed a lot over the years, but here are my current faves... for coffee in my Keurig I'm currently obsessed with any of the Peet's Coffee dark roasts, especially Major Dickasons.  For caffè crema I love Lavazza. For out and about espresso drinks, I'm a big fan of Dutch Brothers.

What is the most amazing coffee you ever had?
Oh my goodness, I guess that would have to be the first time I tried caffè crema with Laurie when I visited her home in Montana. The coffee was so delicious I had to buy a machine of my own just like hers. Although I think the company had a lot to do with the amazingness of the coffee. The caffè crema at my house by myself is good, but not nearly as wonderful as it is when I'm at her house!

If I don't drink my needed coffee, I will...
be incapable of communication.  I'm not a morning person.  It takes me a while to process being awake and alert and most people who spend much time around me have realized that the coffee needs to happen before communication really works for me.  Most mornings I'm just trying to rush the boys down the stairs as fast as I can (which is at least a 10 minute process because they go so slooooooooooooooow and have to bring a zillion blankies and have to turn on every light and discuss whether the ceiling fan is on or off in each room they pass and whether it should be on or off, and open and close every door in the hall before they can even start the stairs, etc.), so I can get them started on their morning routine and then have some coffee. I sigh just a little bit every time I hit the button for the coffee, knowing everything is going to be okay for one small wonderful moment.

Alrighty, that's all from my neck of the woods.  I hope you have a fabulous National Coffee Day. Dutch Brothers is doing Buy 1 Get 1 Free drinks today, so that's officially on the schedule.  Yay!

Mojo Monday 365

Enabler's List
Stamps: One Cup, Coffee (Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake, mossy meadow, pool party, riding hood red (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU!), Walnut Stain distress ink (Rnager), Prismacolor pencils
Accessories:  white linen thread, border punch, wood veneer heart

Happiness in a Cup

Hi friends!  It's the start of a new week and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch.  Mark and I got a small reprieve from the boys yesterday and tried out a new to us coffee shop in town.  It was wonderful and I had the most delightful coconut cream pie scone.  Never would have thought to put those flavors into a scone, but talk about delicious, especially paired with a coconut mocha.  Anyhow, I had coffee on the brain when I sat down to stamp, so here's a quick little card I made with the sketch.

I knew I wanted to embed the Coffee Word Die, so I cut it from a piece of early espresso and a piece of soft sky, then nested the pieces together and added the "is happiness in a cup" sentiment from One Cup, split into two rectangles and sponged with early espresso ink.  I added some white gel pen accents around the soft sky pieces and as a frame around the panel.  The tall mug from the Coffee set is embossed onto a scrap of designer paper, then sponged and matted with early espresso.  I layered this all onto a piece of white card stock embossed with the swiss dots embossing folder.  Finished off by coloring a couple of wooden stars with a copic marker to match, then adding to the cup and linen thread bow and accenting with glossy glaze and glitter.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your week.  And if you haven't already, be sure to check out the Mojo Maker's takes on this week's sketch:

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere 

Marisa Ritzen

Mary Fish

Sarah Bigelow

Teresa Kline

Wanda Cullen

Mojo Monday 364

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee, One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, early espresso (SU!) dp (American Crafts), white
Ink: early espresso (SU!), jasmine (Mix'd Media Inx), Copic markers, white gel pen
Accessories: Coffee Word Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), swiss dots embossing folder (SU!), wood veneer stars, linen thread, glossy glaze, glitter, clear embossing powder

Everything Better

Hi friends!  It's another Monday morning and time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  I've been all about the coffee these past few weeks trying to stay sane while my part-time nanny has been out.  So when I got a little stamping time this weekend, I knew I wanted to pull out the new Coffee set and Coffee Word Die and play.

I started by stamping the cup and steam from Coffee in early espresso on white card stock.  Next I stamped the cup again on designer paper, then sponged with walnut stain distress ink and set aside.  I stamped the coffee bean trio in crumb cake, then did more sponging with walnut stain.  Next I glued the paper pieced cup down and added some highlights with a white gel pen and early espresso marker.

The Coffee Word Die is cut twice, once from the same designer paper as the cup, and then also from early espresso card stock.  I layered them together, offsetting them slightly for a little shadow effect. The makes everything better is masked off from a sentiment in the One Cup set and I cut it into a square, I finished the card with some linen thread, a bunch of sponging and a sparkly rhinestone.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your week!

Mojo Monday 362

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee, One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: This & That (Echo Park), white, kraft
Ink: early espresso, crumb cake (SU!), walnut stain distress ink (Ranger), white gel pen
Accessories:  Coffee Word Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), linen thread, Smoked Topaz rhinestone (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Making Up for Mondays

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch.  And since it's the first Monday of a new month, that means it's contest time and there are Verve prizes up for grabs.  And with last weekend's new release, there's a whole lot more Verve to choose from!

For today's card, I used the new One Cup set.  It's been a looooong couple of weeks at my house with no nanny, a huge release and a few days of sickness and I have to admit this stack of cups is pretty much what my kitchen counter looked like last night!  {wink}  Anyhow, I started with the nature's way of making up for Mondays sentiment because I thought it was very fitting for a Monday card.  Next I stamped a trio of mugs in the corner and I liked how it looked, so decided to do a little masking and stamp the cup trio 4 times staggered, then color with prismacolor pencils and gamsol.  Because I couldn't bear to cover up any of the teacups, I flipped the sketch on its side.

Next I stamped the separate tea sentiment on a 1-3/8" circle, then also stamped the tea tag on the end of the tea loop for a fun look.  I added a square of script black vellum paper, then a seam binding bow from the Truly Madly Deeply Ribbon Collection, then finished off with some splatters with some watered down black soot distress stain.

For a truer representation of this week's Mojo Monday sketch, I'll show you the card that inspired the sketch, which I posted last week during our release previews.  It  uses the new Framed Lilies set. I liked how it came together and thought it would be a fun sketch for everyone to play with.  I hope you enjoy it!

Click here for original post

Thanks so much for stopping by!  If  you haven't checked it out already, be sure to pop on over to the Verve store to see all our brand new releases and take advantage of our Labor Day Sale going on through September 4.

Verve Stamps Labor Day Sale

Enabler's List

Mojo Monday 361

Stamps: One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, basic gray (SU!), black vellum Script (JoAnn)
Ink: black soot, pumice stone (Ranger Distress), prismacolor pencils, red spica glitter pen
Accessories: Truly Madly Deeply Ribbon Collection (Verve), paint brush, gamsol & blending stump, circle punch and circle die, corner rounder

One Cup Day 5 Blog Hop

Hi friends!  It's time for  Day 5 of our Anni-VERVE-sary spotlights, where we're previewing the stamps and dies that will release this Saturday, August 30. We're giving away a $50 gift code to the Verve store each day to a lucky commenter along the hop, so be sure to give the gals a shout out as you hop along!

I'm the first stop on the hop, so if you're just popping in, settle in for some fun!  :)

Today I have a fun little card and tea bag gift to share with you using the new One Cup set. I knew I wanted to have a tea set to go along with Chaitali's coffee set, so I sat down to illustrate, starting with a sentiment in mind that really inspired me... take life one cup at a time.  I liked the look of the font treatment I chose so much that we decided to use it on Chaitali's One Word series as well.  So fun and flirty, yet classy at the same time.

Anyhow, my card uses this sentiment and one of the mugs and tea bag stamps from One Cup.  I also used the coordinating Cuppa Tea Die Set to cut out the mugs, which I colored with Copics.  I kept the layout simple, so the glittery paper could shine and finished things off with a polka dot bow.

Front side of tea bag holder

For the matching tea bag holder, I followed a video tutorial by Brenda Keenan to make this super easy double sided tea bag holder with a single sheet of 6 x 6 paper.  I sponged ink along all the score lines before folding the holder together, then I created a little embellishment using a frame stamp and coordinating die from tomorrow's featured set and two sentiments and teacup from the One Cup set.  I stamped You, me and a cup of tea on one side and Take life one cup at a time on the other. I  finished things off with a bow up top adorned with some cute little heart embellishments.

Back side of tea bag holder

That's it for me today!  Next up on the hop is... Teresa

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $50 gift code to Verve! So be sure to leave a little comment on each blog on the list to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for full set reveals and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 8. Stacey 2. Teresa 9. Maureen 3. Chaitali 10. Laurie 4. Amber 11. Janelle 5. Charmaine 12. Christyne 6. Marisa 13. Jen 7. Monika {Guest} 14. Andrea

Enabler's List - card
Stamps: One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah), Lost & Found (MME)
Ink: black archival and walnut stain distress (Ranger), Copic markers
Accessories: Cuppa Tea Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE),  Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection (Verve)

Enabler's List - teabag holder
Stamps: One Cup, Small Packages (Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake (SU!), Lost & Found (MME)
Ink: black archival and walnut stain distress (Ranger), Copic markers
Accessories: Cuppa Tea Die Set, Cupcake Frame Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE),  Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection (Verve), Metallic Necessities heart embellishments (MME), crop-a-dile, scor-pal