Gingie Time

Hi there my sweet friends! There's a brand new quarterly release in the Not 2 Shabby shop today and it's super adorable! If you're into all things gingerbread, then this release is definitely for you. 

There's an adorable paper pad, a stamp set, ephemera, and a pack of enamel dots that all coordinate! Or you can save a little by purchasing the I Want it All Bundle. I've been trying to dig into my stash a bit more, so immediately thought of the Gingerbread Ornament Die I bought last year and never had time to use. If you're interested, I just checked and it's in stock as of the writing of this post. I mean I couldn't resist it because there's a mug!!!

I die cut the mug from one of the patterned papers and then inked around the edges for a little shading.  The gingerbread pieces are cut from colored cardstock and also shaded around the edges with coordinating colors.  I arranged the hands so my gingie girl is holding a gingerbread cookie (a snowflake, because we're not into gingerbread cannibalism around here!) 🤣

I then chose a gingerbread paper from the pack as my background and double matted.  I finished off with the brewing up holiday cheer stamp from the Gingerbread Coffee House stamp set and a couple of sparkling enamel dots.

So glad you could stop by today! I hope you have a fantastic start to your week!

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Cocoa Love Fall Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hi friends! It's the start of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and I'm popping in to share my first card for the link up. It's the 10th anniversary of the hop and I can still remember the very first one! So much caffeinated fun through the years! 

It's also release day at Not 2 Shabby, and there are some wonderful cocoa themed goodies in this month's release. My card today features papers, ephemera and a stamped sentiment from the November Box of the Month. Although the box of the month is currently sold out, the papers and ephemera are available separately and you'll definitely want to snatch these beauties up!

This ephemera piece from the Frosted Bliss Ephemera pack just called out my name, so I picked a pattern from the Frosted Bliss Paper Pack to coordinate and then got to work.  I've been in the mood for distressing lately, so I distressed the edges of the paper I chose. I then grabbed the Juniper Mist Catehrine Pooler Ink and did a little smooshing on some mixed media paper. I tore the bottom edge to layer behind her, then started collaging pieces of ephemera around her.  

The sentiment is from one of the stamp sets in the box of the month and I embossed it in white on mixed media paper, then cut with a die from Emily's Alphabet Die Set.  I just love this shape and you'll be seeing it often. After embossing, I blended with Juniper Mist and Dress Blues ink, then wiped off the resist. (Tip: some blues have a lot of red in them and tend to add a pink tint to the white. If this happens, once it's dry, I just go over the sentiment with a clear alcohol ink blender to knock back the pink.)

Before I glued things down I tied some white seam binding around the main panel, then painted the ribbon and many of the ephemera elements with some Lindy's Magicals Fairy Fluff.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fantastic start to your day.  Be sure to check out the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop as there are tons of super fabulous sponsors (including Not 2 Shabby) who have generously donated a bunch of prizes!

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Penguin Hugs

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a sweet little penguin card with you. How I adore these happy little penguins from the Winter Hugs set.

I stamped out the images and then colored with Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush markers, which seem to be my medium of choice of late. I've had them for years, but am just now actually taking the time to get to know how they work, which is entirely unlike Copics! Anyhow, I used a glitter brush pen to blend them out, so they are SPARKLY! Once I was finished, I fussy cut the images, then hand trimmed a little slope from white cardstock for the snow bank.

Next I worked on the background, sponging tumbled glass, faded jeans and chipped sapphire inks, then dripping on some water and blotting off.  I then stamped the snowflakes randomly in the background and intended to emboss with white embossing powder, but accidentally pulled out the clear instead.  I do like how it turned out, though. The clear picked up on some of the lighter blues and left a nice iridescent sheen.  I finished with the sentiment embossed in white (got it right this time!) and then layered it all together and added a few grey shading areas with copics to the snow.

If you just need some of these adorable penguins in your life, http://shrsl.com/1ougd is having a year-end sale! Everything in the shop is 20% off  PLUS FREE US shipping on a $50 order!  Sa-weet!

Compensated affiliate links are used where possible. When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting this blog by using my links to shop. 💙

Winter Hugs

The Winter Blues

Hi friends! Hope y'all have been enjoying this last little bit of the year. Our family is in the hole up for winter phase. So many events leading up to Christmas, I'm not sure we'll leave the house until New Year's Eve! 😁 Speaking of a hectic schedule, I'm popping in today with a card I had planned on posting Monday. But time got away from me and this is the first chance I've had to edit photographs.

I started with the adorable Snowman Soup set from Sweet 'n  Sassy Stamps.Enabler alert: Sweet 'n Sassy  has a sweet year end sale going on. Save 18% off site-wide with promo code YEAREND18.

Alright, back to the regularly scheduled post. 😉 I wanted to make a card with the Mojo 505 Sketch, since I hadn't had a chance to play yet. The link up is open through December 30, so you still have the weekend to play!

I stamped the snowman mug image and colored with Copic markers, then fussy cut and set aside. I then cut a banner strip wide enought to fit the mug and chose a background stamp from Texture Tiles 2. It's a cobblestone image, but I thought it looked a lot like marshmallows to go with my cocoa theme.  I stamped the background in stone ink and also on a circle die cut. Next I stamped the sentiment in black and added a bit of iced aqua sponging around the edges so it wasn't so stark.

I determined where I wanted to place my mug and then stamped the heart steam image so it would match up.  The vertical panel is stamped tone on tone in stone (I love how that rhymes) with the Wood Grain Backgrounds set that is the December stamp of the month. It's a fabulous set, and you can get it for free with a $75 or more purchase. I added an iced aqua background embossed with a chicken wire embossing folder, then finished off with RC Aqua mats, a sparkly snowflake and a bit of ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a cozy hot cocoa or your favorite kind of beverage day! I'd love for you to play along with Mojo Monday if you haven't already!


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Wooded Peace

Hi friends! Welcome to a brand new week.  Today I'm over on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps blog sharing this card I made with two of their new December releases. I just love these sweet little doves from the Doves of Peace set and decided to stamp them in wreath formation with the help of the Gina K. wreath builder template. I just got mine during their Thanksgiving sale and couldn't wait to give it a try!

I stamped the dove image in Gina K. amalgam ink eight times using the template, then placed the branch image and repeated the process, coloring everything with Copic markers when I was finished. The stamped and colored panel is cut with a circle die and matted with black cardstock. Next I embossed the peace sentiment in white on black cardstock and hand trimmed as a banner to place over the center of my wreath.  I stamped one additional dove image and fussy cut it to pop out over the banner on the right hand side.

The background is done using the Wood Backgrounds set which is the December Stamp of the Month. I stamped the wood panel stamp three times in fallen leaves versafine clair ink and then sponged with vintage photo distress oxide ink for a nice seamless wood panel look. Love the realistic look this color combination gave! I slightly distressed the edges and attached this to an A2 card base that I embossed with the Sizzix 3D Lumber Texture Fade. I finished with a bit of glitter Nuvo drops for a sparkle and a linen thread bow around the bottom section of the card.

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

Affiliate links are used where possible on this blog. When you  place an order from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Day 8

Hi friends! Well, it's the final day of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and I'm back with another wintry coffee card to share. It's been a real treat having the time to leisurely create for one of these hops. So much fun to use my hoard of coffee stamps! 😆 This afternoon is the deadline for linking up your cards for the hop.

Last night when I was making my card, my little art director Trevor was helping out. He saw the stamped and colored image and said, "A snowman... with a coffee cup!  He's adoooooooorable!" Totally made me laugh. Later when I was trying to decide on more embellishments, he said, "you should probably stop while you're ahead. It's perfect."  Hahaha! Six year olds tell it like it is with no sugar coating, so I took his advice and stopped while I was ahead! 😊

Back at the start, I knew I wanted to have this cute little snowman from the Cool Friend set holding a coffee cup.  So I started with a little masking and stamping just the coffee cup that the elephant is holding in the Coffee and You set. I then masked off the coffee cup and stamped the snowman in midnight ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I colored the sweet little image with Copic markers, then masked off the snowman to do some very subtle ink blending of snowy hills in the background with soft pool ink.  The shape is cut with a tag die, then I sponged more ink around the edges and added a bit of nuvo drops for sparkle.  My only embellishment is some flatback pearls for the falling snow.

The sentiment is from Cool Friend and embossed in white on black cardstock. I backed my card with some fabulous paper from the Winter Solstice 6 x 6 pad and I was finished.

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

Affiliate links are used where possible on this blog. When you  place an order from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Day 7

Hi friends! It's Day 7 of the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and I'm back with another coffee loving card. This is sort of a self portrait of me and my coffee every morning after the boys leave for school. It's my time to breathe deep and enjoy the silence and solitude for a few moments before tackling my to do list for the day! Sometimes it lasts two whole cups long. Those are GOOD days. 😊 Yesterday I had a sick boy at home, so this solitude didn't happen. Today I made up for it with two cups, and boy did I enjoy every moment!

I used a mix of a few Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps to create this card.  I started, as the sentiment states, by stamping the coffee cup from Jesus & Coffee.  Next I started building my girl  using the Girl Power set. I love v-necks and so she had to have a v-neck. I added some extra fly aways when I colored her hair, because let's face it, that's REAL life! 😄

Next I masked off the coffee cup and stamped some greenery from the Christmas Botanicals set below it. Now this is NOT real life, but I do have a beautiful table runner with holly and poinsettias on it, so I took a little poetic license. To finish off the scene, I sketched in a couple lines to indicate where the table was and  some arm separation.  Everything is colored with Copic markers and then I cut it out with a stitched rectangle die cut and matted skewed just a bit on a black stitched rectangle die cut.  I grounded the image with a few Decorative Edge Fancy die cuts glued together for thickness, then finished off with a sentiment from Jesus & Coffee and a flower from Christmas Botanicals.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fantastic day. There's still time to play along and have a chance at winning some spectacular prizes along the hop. Just create a coffee/tea or cocoa themed fall or winter creation and link it up over on the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop official post before the deadline on Friday afternoon (Dec. 7).

Affiliate links are used where possible on this blog. When you  place an order from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Day 6

Hi friends! It's already Day 6 of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! Today I'm sharing a fun little card I made with all sorts of coffee goodies.

I really wanted to use the new Coffee paper and ephemera from Echo's park, so started by die cutting a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of the chalkboard pattern with the Hero Arts Peek-A-Boo Doors Fancy Die. I just love the dimension this adds, while still keeping the card pretty flat for mailing (except for my myriad of embellishments I always end up adding! Haha!)  I added this to a white card base and set aside.

The coffee cup is from the fabulous Jesus + Coffee stamp set from hop  Sponsor Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I stamped in tuxedo black Memento ink and then colored with Copic markers and hand trimmed around the image.  The it's a wonderful life sentiment is a piece of ephemera from the Coffee collection. This is my all-time favorite Christmas movie, so seemed perfect to holiday-ify this card! I finished with some saddle stitched ribbon and a pretty poinsettia ephemera piece I got from my friend Lisa. Thanks Lisa! 💖

Thanks so much for stopping by today! It's so much fun sharing all this coffee loving goodness with y'all. There's still plenty of time to link up your Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop creations for a chance to win one of the amazing prizes! Go forth and get inky! {grin}

Affiliate links are used where possible on this blog. When you  place an order from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Day 5

Hi friends! I'm back for Day 5 of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. Today I'm featuring a Shimmerz stamp set I designed for their winter release called Filled to the Brim.

The background is done by smooshing some Crimson Tide and Moulin Rouge Shimmerz onto watercolor paper.  I then took the snowflake stamp set and lightly stamped it using the leftover shimmerz ink on my palette. The cup is embossed in white onto a gelli print I had pulled for another card (I'm sharing that one over on the Shimmerz Blog today).

I loved how the background turned out and didn't want to cover it up too much, so I embossed the sentiment in silver directly onto the panel.  I then found a glitter snowflake in my stash and layered a wooden snowflake that I painted with Silver Bells Shimmerz in the center. My coffee cup adorns the snowflake and I finished off with some silver cording and a silver embossed snowflake.

Here's a little peek of the card I'm sharing over on the Shimmerz blog. Pretty much the same supplies (with a few more thrown in) for a jazzier feel.

Shimmerz is having a sale on stamps this week! Through December 7, use promo code STAMPZSALE at checkout for a 30% discount on all stamps. If you place an order, leave my name in the order comments so they know who sent ya!

Affiliate links are used where possible on this blog. When you order, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

Mojo Monday 504

Hi friends! It's time for another Mojo Monday sketch. December is always a busy month, so I went with a simpler sketch this time. You can even leave those little flourish leaves off if it suits you better! I've included the measurements I used for my 4.25" square card, but feel free to use whatever size fits your images. Thanks so much for playing along these past months. I LOVE checking out the gallery and peeking in on your lovely creations. Hope you can find a little time to play along this go round!

For my sample card, I pulled out the brand new Doves of Peace set from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps. I stamped one of the doves and a few of the little leaf branches in tuxedo black ink and colored with Copics, then fussy cut around them and accented with some white blizzard Nuvo drops.

The background is cut with a wacky stitched square die an embossed with the Caine Paisley folder from Cuttlebug. The sentiment is stamped onto a circle die cut, then layered on fun foam and matted with black. I finished off with a strip of stitched ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'll be back again a little later today with the Hero Arts December My Monthly Hero Blog Hop! Until then, here's the link up for the Mojo 503 sketch. Linky will close on December 16.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Day 2

Hi friends! Welcome to December. I'm back with another post for the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. There are also some new sets just added to the shop today over at Sweet 'n Sassy stamps, so I'm sharing a non-coffee project as well.

First up is the Stamp of the Month, Wood Backgrounds. This fabulous little background set is free with a $75 purchase this month. When I saw the set, I immediately thought of a wooden ornament I made in 2nd grade with a piece of wood and a cut out Christmas card mod podged to it. To this day, this little handmade ornament makes me smile when I pull it out each year.

So for this sweet little coffee loving ornament, I started by stamping the wood chip image from Wood Backgrounds on paper bag cardstock and then layering onto thin chipboard. I fussy cut around the edges, then sponged with gathered twigs and early espresso distress inks. I used a bit of twine and a cropadile to add the hanger, then pulled out the You & Me set for this sweet little coffee & donuts image. Isn't it darling? I colored them with Copic markers, then fussy cut and popped up on foam tape. The sentiment is from the same set, and I embossed it in white on a thin strip of  early espresso cardstock and hand trimmed.  I finished off with a sweet little piece of ephemera Lisa tucked into a card she sent me. I just added a few more Copic highlights to it to tie the reds together.

My next card combines the new Doves of Peace stamp set with the Wood Backgrounds stamp set. For the background, I tried out the Distress Ink Monoprint technique from Jennifer McGuire. This tecchnique makes two backgrounds, but this is the softer one. I blended peacock feathers and sapphire distress oxides onto water color paper and then embossed the wood chip image with clear embossing powder. Spritzed this with water, then laid a blank piece of watercolor paper over it and ran through my die cut machine.  Isn't it dreamy?  I used it as the backdrop for this dove with the earth image, which I colored with Copics and then accented with glassy glaze and nuvo glitter drops. The peace sentiment is embossed in white on black and I added on earth using the Bitty Minnie Alphabet set.  The final touch was a seam binding bow to hide my ink smudged fingerprint! 😄

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to head on over to Sweet 'n Sassy to see the new release.

Affiliate links are used where possible. When you order, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

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Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Day 1

Hi friends! It's that special time of year when all the blogs are decked out in coffee, tea and cocoa finery! The Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop kicks off today and I have a bunch of fun projects I can't wait to share with you over the coming week!

For today's post, I'm sharing a couple of cards made with Sweet 'n Sassy stamps. They're one of the fabulous Super Sponsors along the hop. At last count I think there were 87 super sponsors this go round and that means tons of AMAZING prizes for participating. Link up your hot beverage fall or winter themed projects over on the Coffee Loving Cardmaker Blog now through December 7 for a chance to win!

Okay, so this first card might just be my most mailable card yet! Can you believe an almost one layer card from yours truly? You know I'm all about the jingle bells and fluffy bows, but I do have a few international friends and filling out a customs form to send a Christmas card seems a little silly.  Haha! I started by stamping the three cups from Jesus & Coffee on white cardstock. I then masked them off to add a little antique linen glow behind the cups.  I colored them with Copic markers, adding some snowflake accents with a white gel pen. The joy sentiment is from the Christmas Topiaries set, and I added the sweet little bow from the set below my cups and colored with Copics. I finished off with a sentiment from We Three Kings and a simple black mat on a white A2 card base. Simple, yet striking.

My second card today is one you may have seen on social media, but I realized it's the end of the month and I never shared it here! So hard to keep up sometimes, ya know? Anyhow, I used the sweet 11th birthday throwback set, Cocoa's Cups, for this one. Some fun kraft papers and an old border punch make up the layout.  Cocoa and his sweet little peppermint hot chocolate are peeking out at you sending some warm wishes and I tucked in a couple holly leaves from the Christmas Botanicals set to finish things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you're having a great day and find some caffeinated inspiration along the hop!

Today is the final day of Sweet 'n Sassy's 11th birthday celebration! Use code HAPPY11SFC for 11% off all sentiment, fall & Christmas stamps through tonight, 11/30!

Affiliate links are used where possible. When you order, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you and you receive happy mail! Win, win! Thanks so much for clicking on my links to shop. 💙

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