Coffee with Friends...

Hello there Coffee Loving Crafters!  I am so excited to be joining my fellow Coffee Loving Papercrafters designers AND the Fun Stampers Journey designers as we collaborate today in a fun and inspirational hop featuring the newest coffee-loving products in the Fun Stampers Journey line! We hope to inspire you with our creations using the yummy Coffee Helps stamp and dies as well as the new Coffee First Die Set. If you've arrived here from Amy Tsuruta's blog, you're on the right track! If not, you can find the complete blog hop listing at the bottom of my post.  

Many of the products used in my creations are directly from Fun Stampers Journey. Please make sure to check out their website and their brand spankin' new Inspiration Book and Catalog! FSJ has graciously provided a prize for one lucky blog hop comment queen/king!  If you would like a chance at a $25.00 gift certificate to shop FSJ products (FSJ only operates in the US and its territories),  make sure to visit and comment on each blog for a chance to WIN! And non-USA coffee loving friends, don't worry!  I am offering an FSJ prize package for one lucky NON-USA coffee loving commenter too!  Just note in your comments (NON-USA) for a chance to win!  (Not a Coach, just a fan!) 

I've listed the complete blog roll at the bottom of my post so that you can navigate your way through coffee bliss!  

Mondays...Mondays can be quite a drag...especially when you've spent the weekend having a grand time with family and friends and it comes to a screeching halt when the M word is mentioned! That's when coffee comes to the rescue and gives you a little pep-talk!

I love incorporating old jeans into my crafty creations and the projects I'm sharing today do just that!  I took a piece of my old ripped up jeans, stitched them a bit and frayed them to give a little fringe. I applied a piece of it to a white card panel that I had stamped with the "you got this!" sentiment. After that, I diecut the fun little frapuccino cup (and doodled some cream) from the Coffee First die set and stamped and diecut the to-go cup from the Coffee Helps Bundle using Black Licorice True Color Fusion Ink. I attached some Black Licorice Satin Ribbon over the edge of the jeans to finish it off.  

I love the little addition of the Journey Vellum lid and the striped straw (I colored it with a Copic Marker) and added a little Rock Candy Organza Bow onto the straw to make it cute!  After adding the bow, I diecut an oval using the Journey Ovals Dies so that I could mount the cups and add some Fashion Silver bling and a little hint of that MONDAY!  The Monday sentiment comes from the adorable Calendar Essentials ATS set.  SO FUN!

Now, on to my second project: Planner fun! I love working in my summer planner (it's an exclusive FSJ Citrus Personal Planner by Webster's Pages) and enjoy embellshing it every month. It's a nice break and helps me stay organized! I started out by diecutting the "Receipt Pocket Die" using some Lemongrass cardstock. I added the remaining piece of jeans material, some kraft paper (the packing material in my FSJ orders) and some graph paper. I tied a bit of green twine (from Hemptique) around the pocket and then stamped the sentiment onto some retired FSJ printed paper. I slid that panel into the pocket.  

The little SMILE veneer piece was painted with Whip Cream Acrylic paint and then Lemon Drop Acrylic paint to keep it bright and happy! I stamped and diecut the cup (and cut out the handle) and colored it with my FSJ Color Splash watercolor pencils.

Don't be afraid to add a bit of color/sparkle to these little wooden embellishments!!!

To finish my divider off, I added a photo of myself sippin' some coffee from one of my favorite ceramic mugs. I'm a collector, so I always find opportunities to add them to my planner.  Adding a few mini staples to my photo just adds a little more pizzaz!

On the other side of my planner, I created a few inserts for my "My Moments Variety Photo Sleeves".  I really prefer this style of planning during the summer months as it is a snapshot and very quick and simple to create a stack of "days" whenever I'm on the go.  I just carry a box of 4x3 pieces of cardstock that are stamped and embellished a bit and add information to them as I need them.  They're easy to slide in and out of the sleeves too, so they allow me to have more room for memorabilia, notes, etc. without making my planner burst at the seams.

I stamped the coffee rings with Citrus Cooler ink and the beans/Friday/Date with Lemon Grass ink.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you were inspired by my creations and hope you enjoy the rest of the hop! Make sure to stop back this SUNDAY as I share a few more coffee-licious cards and my new sketch challenge for my weekly Sunday Sip and Share post at Coffee Loving Cardmakers!

Please zip over to Helen's blog for some coffee-licious inspiration!

Blogroll:  

FSJ Blog
Tania Willis
Patricia Roebuck

Michelle Woerner

Mariana Grigsby

Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog  

Amy Tsuruta  

Kerry Urbatch  

Helen Gullett  

Lisa Bzibziak  

Robyn Jordan  

Lori Turner  

Becca Cruger  

Dana Gong  

Dana Warren  

Erin Thiem  

Katie Brooks

Kathy Schweinfurth  

Laurel Seabrook

Sunday Sip and Share...It's In the Bag!

Hello there coffee-loving cardmakers!  I'm here with a fun little Sunday Sip & Share on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog!  For this week's post, I decided to make a cute little bag of fresh roasted coffee beans with a coordinating cards.  Not only do I love making cards, I love sewing too!  So...I created this quick and simple bag to hold my roasted beans.  It'll be a great little happy mail treat for someone soon!

I started off by sewing a few little cotton bags.  No frills, just white Moda cotton fabric.  The stamping, embellies and fiber tie would help them shine!  After sewing, I started creating some fun background paper.  This background paper would not only be used for my card, but it would also be incorporated in the gift bag design.  

The background was created using my Gelli Plate and some of my favorite coloring mediums.  First, I dabbed some Dusty Concord Ranger Distress ink onto my Gelli Plate.  I spritzed it with some water to accentuate the beading effect of the ink.  I laid that down on my cardstock then began the second layer.  For the second layer, I spritzed some FSJ Cosmic Grape Color Splash onto the plate, then flicked some FSJ Silks (Silver, Gold, Cosmic Grape, Turbo Teal) onto that.  SInce they are water based, they bead up a bit.  The Color Splash has some acrylic paint-like characteristics, so it retains much of the spray effect and doesn't bead up.  I also added some Liquitex Metallic Silver Acrylic Ink splatters/drips too.  I like this ink because it leaves an opalescent sheen on the surface and is translucent enough to allow the color underneath to peek through.  

I continued adding layers and layers of color until I was satisfied with the results.  When done, I applied some Whip Cream Reinker to the plate and rubbed it around with an acrylic block.  When laying my cardstock over this ink, it softened and muted the vibrant color.  It was exactly what I was hoping for!  The final touch was to add some Pineapple Smoothie Acrylic Paint.  You'll probably notice the little flower bloom diecuts on the piece too.  They were laid onto the Gelli Plate and they transferred themselves.  

After all was dry, I applied some Uniko Background Builders:  Vines and tiny florals using Dusty Concord Ranger Distress ink and Versafine Onyx ink with Journey Black Embossing Powder.  

I mounted the background onto Black Licorice cardstock then onto Lavender Fusion cardstock then sewed a few zips through my sewing machine.  The panel was glued to an A2 Whip Cream card base in an off center fashion.  I then stamped and embossed the Uniko "I LOVE COFFEE" cup and stamped just the piece of the coffee sentiment using Versafine Ink.  I arranged the collage on the front with foam squares and the card was done!  

The scraps from my card were used to create the coordinating pattern on the coffee bean bag.  I adhered them with Journey Glaze so they would remain pliable after drying.  I stamped the trio of beans and the sentiment with Staz-On ink.  

Now I have a perfectly coordinated gift set!  Wahoo!!!  It's heading out in Monday's mail to someone who went above and beyond... :)

Now it's on to the coordinating sketch!  I'm so matchy-matchy today!  ;)  If you would like to join the fun (and possibly win coffee-loving treats), please post a coffee/tea/cocoa creation inspired by this sketch-or any of our September sketches in the inlinkz below.  Make sure to include the hashtag #clcsipandshare when posting to social media!

An InLinkz Link-up