Coffee Is Always A Good Idea

Just a super quick post today as I'm extremely busy with the important task of binge watching Netflix and slouching on the sofa. Which I know is not good for my back, but my mind needed an evening off after doing all the meal prep for the week ahead, doing laundry and even cleaning the house a bit. In between trying to motivate myself to clean the house I made a quick little card inspired by the loveliest of drinks which I was sipping while creating. I was inspired by the colours over at Color Throwdown and the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I was also inspired by the inspiration image over at Inspired By All The Little Things. I'm also linking up with Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is Autumn.

Card: 300 gsm linen textured white card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves 2, Anywhere There's Coffee, Framed Coffee To Go
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Aged Mahogany
Other: Lawn Fawn Let's Polka and Let's Polka in the Meadow papers

Sweet treat

I usually start my Saturdays with a crafting session, but today I thought I will just quickly clean my craft room before making more of a mess. Ok, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't push the stuff on my crafting desk any further towards the edges of the desk to make even the tiniest little space, so it wasn't so much of a choice as a requirement. However, it turned out I also sorted through that huge pile of papers that contain all those "I will deal with these any day now" things, found a document I had been looking for for ages, and even kept on cleaning and went through a few of my clothes cupboards. Yes, plural... I managed to gather two large bags of clothes I am taking to a charity shop. I keep dreaming of that simple, 48-piece capsule wardrobe, but when you are a person who has been anything between a size 10 and a size 20 in the last 5 years, it's not so easy, I will tell you. I have formal and less formal dresses in various sizes, and I refuse to get rid of them as I never know what size I will be when I next need one...

I did finally make it to the actual fun part. I was inspired by the Tempting Treats challenge over at Daring Cardmakers, inspired by making cards with sweet things on them after my donut card rocked the Friday mashup. So I turned again to my trusty Sugar Rush stamp set from STAMPlorations. I know I said it before, and I will say it again, but I just love love love love love this set!!! It always makes my mouth water when I take it out for a play. I was also inspired by a card by Maria F. over in the STAMPlorations CASE playground. The funny thing is, I had also decided to play along with the colour challenge over at The Card Concept, which is partly why I was drawn to Maria's gorgeous card. Funnily enough, she also played along with the challenge over at The Card Concept, so I'm not sure if this counts as cheating... In my defence, all I can say is that it wasn't intentional, and at least I'm giving credit where credit is due. I'm also linking up with the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge. For the layout, I was also inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and last but not least I'm playing along over at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie where the inspiration pic was pink and red cookies.

I started by die cutting a piece of watercolour card using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die, and stamped the sundae in Staz-on Jet Black ink. I also stamped the image onto a piece of scrap paper and cut it out to use as a mask. I have been trying to find low tack masking paper, I have seen it used in crafty videos but can't find any. Can anyone help me? In the meantime, I use teeny tiny dabs of Tombow glue, if you let it dry it becomes non-permanent, so it works well for masking.  Just make sure you use absolutely tiny little drops, I like to make them a bit less sticky with my finger before adhering to the card, just to make sure it won't stick too tightly. After masking off the image, I used a watercolour brush to wet the paper, and then created the ombre background using Tim Holtz distress inks in Aged Mahogany, Barn Door, Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar. I then dried the background using a heat gun, and painted the sundae using the same inks, adding some Ground Espresso for the chocolate sauce. Then I stamped sentiments from the stamp set around the edges, inspired by the layout Maria used for her card. I added a few adhesive rhinestones and sequins, and added Glossy Accents to the glass to make it look a bit more... well, glassy and glossy. I die cut a piece of vellum using a larger stitched rectangle die and adhered it onto the white card base, it doesn't show very well in the image, but it gives a nice finish to the white card. The sun was already setting when I finished the card, so the images are unfortunately a bit on the dark side.

Card: white 300 gsm card, 300 gsm watercolour card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Stamps: STAMPlorations Sugar Rush
Ink: Tsukineko Staz-on Jet Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress inks Aged Mahogany, Barn Door, Ground Espresso, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Stampin' Up Glossy Accents, adhesive gems and sequins from my stash

Magazine freebie cards

When I left my previous job, my wonderful colleagues gave me the most thoughtful present - a year's subscription of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. The June issue arrived yesterday and it came at a perfect time. I was stuck in catastrophic traffic congestion for about four times as long as it usually takes me to get home after work. When I saw the magazine had arrived, I made myself a large glass of Pimm's and took a deck chair out into the sunshine in the garden a browsed the magazine to forget about my traumatic drive home. 

The magazine came with the cutest Oscar the Owl & Pals stamps, and I immediately had to try them. I used some papers that came free with the magazine and used Tim Holtz distress markers to colour the cute critters. I used a punch for the banners and die cut the letters. The pink card says "baby" and the owl card says "congratulations" in Finnish. I used a bit of Distress ink around the edges of the stamped panels and finished with adding some faux stitching around the edges. I also stamped and coloured a little inside the cards and made matching envelopes. I think that's the finishing touch, making sure the envelopes and insides of the cards are not just left blank but given a little touch up.

Inside and envelope for the fox card

Inside and envelope for the owl card

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch as an inspiration for the layout of the owl card. My inspiration for the fox card was this week's Color Throwdown with a lovely pink colour theme, and I'm also entering it into the Shopping our Stash challenge, which this week is "Critters". I think these cards go to show that although most crafters (me included) end up spending fortunes on crafting equipment, card making can be done on a budget and it's about the imagination more than the expensive stuff you buy. I used free goodies and leftover scraps for almost everything in these cards. The stamps and paper were free with a magazine, and the banners and letters were all die cut from left over scraps of paper. Also, the matting paper was leftover bits and pieces left over from other projects and taken from my stash box. Pretty much the only thing that is "new" is the white card used for the card base. And I still think these turned out great!

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, A4 Coloured 240 gsm Craft Card in Pink Raspberry and Pink Sorbet, brown cardstock from my stash, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Paper: Free paper from Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine
Stamps: Free Oscar the owl & Pals stamps from Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine
Inks: Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick inks, Tim Holtz Distress markers in Aged Mahogany, Bundled Sage, Evergreen Bough, Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon and Worn Lipstick, Stampin' Write marker in Blushing Bride
Other: Stampin' Up Banner punch, Sizzix Bug in a Rug alphabet die