Java Cafe

Hi all - it's been a while since I've posted anything! I've still been making cards but have been rather lazy about blogging them - oh well....

Since my last post, I've been busy with chorus activities. Our Director has been conducting small group rehearsals on choreography at a mirrored studio - very fun! Then he couldn't do one scheduled session last week so my friend JoAnn & I ran it (we're on the chorus Visual Team). The previous week I joined a group of 13 from chorus to sing at the VA Hospital in St Cloud MN. It was fun to sing for the veterans who've done so much for our freedom! Part of the event was a sing-along and one sweet gentleman got so into it, he started doing a solo of My Wild Irish Rose. The aide with him said she hadn't seen him smile like that in a while :) Another gentleman was dancing to our music, joined by his aide - so great to bring joy to our audience!

Today I'm sharing a card made with a beautiful cafe scene from the August My Monthly Hero kit by Hero Arts.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Momenta Marble Pastel;

Paper Studio yellow A2 card & red; Poptone Black Licorice

Stamp & Die - Hero Arts August 2018 My Monthly Hero Kit

Other - Copic Markers, Joy ultra thin foam

I die cut the scene from white card stock and colored most of it with Copic Markers. I cut it a second time, just the awning portion, in red and then inlaid those pieces into the white. Stamped the sentiment (also from the kit) and hand doodled the cafe sign. Done!

That's it for today. Hope you're enjoying these last days of summer. We've been experiencing a lot of rain but are still behind on our rainfall for the summer. Looks like it'll be a sunny holiday weekend though. Thanks for stopping!!

Distress It & another Twofer

Hi all - just a quick post to get something in for the current Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Distress It, plus another pair for the Twofer Card Challenge - Geometric. Here's the pair:

I used a Tim Holtz stamp & stencil set I bought at Michael's - don't see it there online but it might still be in some of the stores. Besides the circles, it also has some hexagons. On the card at left I stamped and white embossed the connected circles twice. Then I blended Distress Oxide inks (Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick & Fired Brick) for an emboss/resist background. Spritzed it several times and dried quickly with a heat tool. On the card at right I created a panel with the connected circles, this time I used the center circle as my focal point, overlapping that one when I stamped the circles twice.

Here's each card individually; starting with the distressed background card.

** Update ** Supplies: Paper -  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White & scrap of orange;
Paper Studio Teal; Poptone Black Licorice; scrap of marbled Yupo
Stamps - Hero Arts H4772 Friend Collage (retired);
Tim Holtz THMM101 (circles)
Dies - MFT Blueprints (retired);
Memory Box hello from an exclusive Columbine Frame set
Other - Distress Inks, sequins (no packaging for brand);
Hero Arts White Puff embossing powder; Distress Embossing Ink

** Update ** Supplies: Paper -  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Paper Studio Red; Poptone Black Licorice
Stamps - Hero Arts CM136 Birthday Messages;
Whimsy Stamps Autumn Bonus Bundle (small dots)
Tim Holtz THMM101 (circles)
Dies - Hero Arts DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies
Other - Distress Inks (Fired Brick & Iced Spruce); Hero Arts Black

Thanks for stopping!!

Geometric Twofer

Hey everyone - back with cards for this month's Twofer Card Challenge - #8 already!! This month Darnell and company would like to see geometric shapes on our cards. How fun is that?!

I went with a scribble circle die from Poppystamps. Here's my Twofer:

Many months ago, I die cut the three shapes from Scribble Trio using gold glitter paper. Every now and then I'd pull them out alone or together, move them around a card base, and then toss them back in the UFO box. When I saw the Twofer prompt this month, the light bulb in my brain went off! I'd intersect all three on a horizontal card. Decided to make it a Christmas card so used a green card base & embossed a word in each of them, added sequins, done! Here's a close-up:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Paper Studio glitter

Dies - Poppystamps Scribble Trio

Stamps - Hero Arts CL998 Happy Holly Days

Other - Silver embossing powder; Darice sequins

What to do for the second card? I had knocked a few stamp sets off my table while looking through the UFO box. Spotted the rocket stamp and suddenly I knew another scribble circle could be the rings of a planet. Here's a close-up:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts pool; Paper Studio glitter & teal;

Poptone Black Licorice, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

scrap of Yupo I marbled with alcohol ink

Dies - Poppystamps Scribble Trio; MFT Blueprints (retired)

Stamps - Hero Arts CL922 Rocket Thanks (retired);

Simon Says Stamp Falling Stars

Other - White embossing powder; Distress spray; Copic Markers

I got a bit wild with the Distress spray and had to wipe a bit off the bottom of my teal panel - oh well. That's par for the course around here. Then I had to take my photos twice because at first I'd forgotten to color the word thanks which stamped in outline. Quickly colored it and photographed all over again. I like it much better colored!

That's it for today. Chorus did a park concert yesterday - it was extremely warm but everything went great even if the audience huddled in any available shade!! We were on a shaded stage but got no hint of the lake breeze - I couldn't believe how hot & tired I got. Didn't help that I stayed up til 1:30 this morning reading!! Will definitely need a nap before I do anything else - LOL.

Thanks to the Twofer crew for a fun challenge and thanks to you for stopping by! Hope you have a crafty week!!

Final CAS tree

Hi everyone - I'm back with my third and final card for the August CAS Christmas Challenge to use a tree. While deep into making a different card today, I happened upon a Spellbinders tree die in my stash. Off I went with it, totally ignoring the other card. Does this happen to you? It happens to me waaaay too often! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

DCWV Glitter Paper

Die - Spellbinders S4-435 Picture Perfect (retired)

Sentiment Stamp - Avery Elle Snow Much Fun

Other - Copic Markers (C3 & Y19);

Distress Oxide Ink - Iced Spruce & Faded Jeans

Doesn't get much easier than this card! I die cut the tree panel from this yummy silver glitter paper (LOVE it!!), shading some spots with Copics. I also trimmed some houses from above the long row and moved them to below it. That gave me some more white space for my sentiment. I stamped it with Iced Spruce but added Faded Jeans to make it bluer. Done!!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to work on the other card, plus yet another card that I deserted last night - LOL. You'll be seeing those in September when I'm Guest Designer at the Twofer Card Challenge - can't wait! Have a great day!!

Another CAS Christmas Tree

I'm back with another card for the August CAS Christmas Card Challenge to use a tree.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White:

Paper Studio Holiday Red

Silhouette Design 108565 Xmas Tree Stencil

Other - Copic Markers; Heidi Swapp glitter stars;

Joy ultra thin foam squares

I was playing around on the Silhouette with fonts that have trees. ScrapNFonts created a darling set of Christmas trees with a letter in each. Decided it was perfect for this challenge! I cut the letter trees in white and carefully popped the letter out. Colored the trees and the letters, then popped the letters back. Adhered to a white offset mat and then a red one. Popped onto an A2 card with thin foam squares. Thought the trees needed a finishing touch so I added the glittery stars - done!!

I hope to get another card done before the challenge closes on the 24th. Gotta build up that Christmas stash, right?! Thanks for stopping and have a great week!!

CAS Christmas - Tree!!

Hey everyone - I'm here with a card for the August CAS Christmas Challenge! Gorgeous inspiration by the CAS Christmas DT and they've welcomed a couple of friends from my Merry Monday days - Colleen and Linda - congrats!! Since Merry Monday ended, I've been trying hard to play along with this challenge multiple times each month. Hopefully I'm keeping on pace to complete my Christmas card list long before the holidays arrive!!

When I saw the new challenge was Tree, I was sitting in front of the TV playing on my laptop. I headed over to the Silhouette Online store with the idea to use a font with trees. Here's my first effort:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;
Poptone Black Licorice

Silhouette Design ID 243265 - Hiked it & Liked it Font

Other - Copic Markers; Picket Fence Distress Stickles;

Joy ultra thin foam tape

Funny story - my new laptop isn't as quick on the Silhouette downloads - not sure why but I believe it's because it's considered a secondary machine (old laptop being primary). I'm too impatient so I'm trying to use the new font while it's still downloading - LOL! Not all the letters in the font have trees and some have nothing. From a preview at the online store, I knew the Rs had trees but I wasn't getting them on my design - ugh! Ended up having to close the program and start again.... Finally got the results I expected from the preview of the word MERRY - thought it would make a fun card.

I cut everything from white cardstock as I often do. I didn't find an individual tree that matched the one on the R edge so I cut extra Rs & snipped the tree portion off two of them. Colored the letters and extra trees with Copics and put Stickles on the snowy mountain M. Popped MERRY onto a black panel with foam tape & added to a white A2 card - DONE!!

I already cut another sentiment using a different tree font! Maybe I'll be back with a second CAS Christmas card later this week. Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a great weekend!!

Make your own Background

Hey everyone - it's the weekend, yay!! A chorus group sang at a park last night but I had a chance to shop beforehand. Any excuse, right?! I picked up a cute Concord & 9th set so thought I'd play along at this week's Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge.

Simon Says: Make Your Own Background

Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White & Poptone Black Licorice

Stamps - Concord & 9th Furry Friends;

Hero Arts - Thanks a Bunch (retired)

Whimsy Stamps - Autumn Blessings (retired but in a bundle here)

Dies - Concord & 9th Furry Friends - window;

My Favorite Things DieNamics Blueprints 21 (retired)

Other - Joy ultra-thin foam tape; various Hero Arts Inks;

Copic Markers

I started with a 5.5" square white card and, using a MISTI, created my own turn-about pattern. I chose little images from the Concord & 9th Furry Friends set. First I did the outlines four times. Then rearranged and stamped more times. Next I stamped the solid images over the outline ones, not always perfectly aligned. Finally I filled in some spots using a dot stamp from the Whimsy set, then doodled a few more dots.

With my background complete, I cut a stitched rectangle from it and then a window. I stamped the fox head on the piece left from the window (the die cut a frame too which I'm saving). I popped the window back using foam tape and added the little hat which I'd stamped and fussy cut. Stamped "thanks" as the sentiment thinking this would be a fun thank you card for girly birthday.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

More Alcohol Inks

Happy Thursday! I'm continuing to play with alcohol inks and created a sky & lake background.

Supplies: Paper - Alcohol Ink Yupo; Poptone Black Licorice;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Inks - Ranger Jet Black Archival; Hero Arts Tangerine

Alcohol Inks - Sailboat Blue, Meadow,  Slate & Stream

Stamps - My Monthly Hero June 2018 (birds & chair);

Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental;

Tim Holtz trees (came in his Alcohol Ink kit)

Dies - WeR Memory Keepers Rectangle Label - retired;

My Favorite Things Blueprints - retired

MMH kit chair die to match stamp

I created a similar card HERE but without alcohol inks - would love to hear which one you like better! The trees I used on that card were a lot taller - I really liked the scale of the smaller trees on this card. Probably should've popped a fish into the "lake" - I sent the card to a fisherman friend who had surgery and has had some challenges recuperating.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Fun with Alcohol Inks

Hey everyone - I'm back today using more of the flowers I stamped for yesterday's guest designer post at a2z Scrapbooking. I had such fun doing that and thank them again for the opportunity!!

What's the old saying "everything old is new again"? That's what alcohol inks are to me - I have a box of them from years ago. They seemed to go out of fashion but now they're back with new products and techniques. I had to dive back in!! I have two cards for you using the techniques Tim Holtz showed here and Jennifer McGuire showed here - really enjoyed both videos!

Supplies:  Paper - DCWV A2 card; Alcohol Ink Yupo

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Paper Studio glitter

Stamps - Hero Arts CM256 Flowers for Coloring

CM135 Thank You Messages;

Impression Obsession Ornate Floral

Dies - Hero Arts DI503 Flowers for Coloring Frame Cuts,

DI327 Branch Wreath Fancy Die

My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 & 20 - retired

Other - Copic Markers, Joy ultra thin foam;

Hero Arts Black inks; White & black gel pens; 

Broken China Distress Oxide Ink;

Ranger Alcohol Inks from Tim Holtz Kit; Alcohol Lift-Ink

I created the background for card one using Yupo paper with alcohol inks and the new Alcohol Lift-Ink. I used a busy background stamp and couldn't get the detail to show as well as I'd hoped. But I got a usable background, plus a lovely print using the lifted ink stamped onto a plain piece of white cardstock. I used a piece of it for card two:

Supplies:  Paper - Hero Arts Pool Layering Paper,

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Paper Studio glitter

Poptone Black Licorice

Stamps - Impression Obsession Ornate Floral

Dies - Momenta Word Fetti

Other - Hero Arts Pool gem; Ranger Alcohol Inks from Tim Holtz Kit

I'll definitely try this technique again! It's another way to stretch your supplies and get two cards very quickly. Now for one last photo - I couldn't resist sharing. I got this little Tim Holtz storage suitcase years ago and decorated it using alcohol inks. I'm thinking it might have been part of a ScrapFest class? Anyone remember?

Can you see the design in the metal? Fantastic! In the corner it says Tim Holtz by Cropper Hopper. Cropper Hopper is now Storage Studios and they don't sell this item. Ranger sells the Alcohol Ink Storage Tin which has nice slots for the bottles. I'm glad to have the personalized suitcase, even if (as you can see) all the stuff inside is jumbled.

That's it for today - hope you're having a great week. Thanks for stopping!