Thinking Of You-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

 

Hello and welcome to another Coffee and Cards with Celeste and Deb! We are at the end of August and rapidly approaching Autumn so, we thought it would appropriate to create an Autumn scene on our card collaboration this month. To create my card I started with a piece of Canson cold press watercolor paper and stamped the images from Altenew's Birch Land stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink because it's water proof. Using my Tim Holtz distress inks I stamped the leaves around the birch tree, the basket, and in various spots along the ground using both direct ink to paper stamping and ink pad with a spritz of water. Using a fine water color brush I added some details to the bird house, the basket, and the birch tree. I die cut the watercolored panel using a Gina Marie stitched edge rectangle die and then matted the panel onto some rust cardstock I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I matted the entire focal panel onto my A2 white card base and that completes my card. I love how this turned out. 

For my coffee choice this month I opted for a nice iced cinnamon latte from one of the food trucks at my local farmers market downtown. I chose to walk the 2 miles down there and it was muggy so, this was a much needed icy treat!

Thank you for visiting my blog. Now, be sure to hop on over to Deb's blog and see what fun Autumn scene she's created for us this month!

Have A Boo-Tiful Halloween-W2CB October Challenge

Hello, happy October and welcome to another Words To Craft By card challenge. This month our quote is "Always be yourself unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman"-source unknown. I don't have any Batman stamps but I do have lots of fun bat stamps for Halloween and thought I would let that be my inspiration. To create my card I started by layering some textured orange cardstock from the American Crafts Halloween 6x6 cardstock pad onto my white A2 card base. I then die cut a piece of Canson watercolor paper using a Gina Marie stitched rectangle die and stamped the moon/bats image from Craft Smart onto the panel using Versafine onyx black ink. I poured some Zing clear embossing powder over the stamped image and heat set it. I masked the moon portion of the stamp off and created a night sky using my Tim Holtz distress inks and a blending tool. I added some light water splatters to create the image of a starry night. I also added some additional stars using my white gel pen. I then die cut a hillside using some Stampin' Up basic black cardstock and a Paper Smooches hillside border die. I stamped the sentiment from Darcie's Heart & Home Bootiful Hallween stamp set right above it usine Versafine onyx black ink. I stamped the Dracula image from The Cat's Pajama's Mwahh! stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock, colored it using my alcohol makers, fussy cut the image out, and popped it up off of my card using foam squares from Scrapbook Adhesives. I can't wait to see how you were inspired by this month's challenge!

Welcome Baby

Hello and happy Friday! Today's card was created for a co-worker's baby shower and I thought I would enter it into the latest Watercooler Wednesday "all about occasions" card challenge. To create my card I started by ink smooshing some Tim Holtz distress inks onto some Canson watercolor paper and then inking over it using a handmade stencil I created with some plastic packaging and a wave shaped die. I spritzed the panel with my mini Mister and then sprinkled some clear water droplets onto it as well as some Distress Spray Stain in picket fence. Once it was dry I stamped the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Baby stamp set onto the panel using Versafine onyx black ink. I die cut the panel using a Gina Marie Design stitched edge rectangle die and popped it up off of my white A2 card base using fun foam from Hobby Lobby . I then stamped the whales from The Alley Way Stamps Little Fellas and Something's Fishy stamp sets onto white Copic-friendly cardstock. I colored them using my alcohol markers, fussy cut them out, edged them using my dual tip Memento marker, and popped them up off of the card using Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares. My co-worker loved the card and I hope you do too. Thank you for visiting my blog and if you enjoyed my card be sure to leave a comment below. I appreciate them all!

Butterfly Happy Birthday

Today's card was created for the latest Watercooler Wednesday card challenge. To create my card I started by cutting a piece of Stampin' UP basic black cardstock into a pretty decorative border using a Stamplorations Cutplorations decorative edge die. I adhered it to some pretty patterned paper from the Studio Calico Atlantic 6x6 paper pad and layered it onto my standard white card base. I then stamped the sentiment from the Winnie & Walter The Big, the Bold, and the Happy stamp set directly onto the card base using Versafine onyx black ink and my mini-Misti to ensure nice, crisp lines. I stamped the butterfly image from the Bo Bunny Flutter Stamp stamp set onto some Canson watercolor paper using Versafine onyx black ink and heat set it using some Zing clear embossing powder. I watercolored the image using some Tim Holtz distress ink and attached it to the card using some glue dots and some foam dimensionals. I added a few clear rhinestones from Recollections and some clear Wink of Stella glitter to the butterfly for a nice finishing touch. Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend!

Never Stop Looking Up

My card today was created for the latest Tuesday Throwdown challenge. This week's challenge is "anything goes." I have a dear friend who lets me come raid her craft room and borrow stamps every month and this month I borrowed her Unity Stamp Company KOTM Open Sky, Big Ocean. I stamped that gorgeous moon and the coordinating sentiment onto some Canson cold pressed watercolor paper using Versamark ink and Recollections detail embossing powder in snow white. I heat embossed the image using my heat tool and then colored the image using my Tim Holtz distress inks and a watercolor brush. Once the image was dry I cut it down into a panel using a wonky stitched edge rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. I popped the panel up off of my white card base using fun foam from Hobby Lobby and then added a sweet little wooden embellishment star from American Crafts and a smattering of silver star sequins from Pretty Pink Posh. I love how this card turned out! Thank you for visiting my blog and if you like my card be sure to leave a kind word. I appreciate them all!

Happy Birthday-Just Us Girls Challenge

My second card today was created for the latest Just Us Girls card challenge. I have been stuck in a coloring rut lately. It seems that anytime I stamp an image I automatically reach for my Copic markers. I have been trying to get myself to branch out and try to watercolor more. So, when I saw the inspiration photo I thought it would be a good time for me to actually challenge my watercoloring skills. To create my card I started with some kraft cardstock from Hobby Lobby. I inked up the Stampin' UP French Script background stamp using Tim Holtz black soot ink and spritzed it with my mini mister to give it a nice loose look on the text since I was going to be stamping it sideways onto my A2 card base. Using some Canson coldpress watercolor paper I stamped the pretty poppies and leaves from the Stampers Anonymous Flower Garden stamp set and the sentiment from the Papertrey Ink Botanical Silhouettes stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. I covered all of the stamped images with Zing clear embossing powder and heat set them. Using an inexpensive watercolor set I picked up at Hobby Lobby I watercolored the images and set it aside to dry. Once dry I die cut it down into a panel using a Gina Marie Designs stitched rectangle die. I added popped the panel up off of the card using some fun foam from Hobby Lobby and added some clear rhinestones by Recollections to the center of the poppies and a few Nuvo crystal drops in ebony black around the panel to finish this card off. I hope you like it. 

Sending Hugs

Today's card was created for the latest Less Is More Challenge. I created my card by layering some pretty patterned paper from the American Crafts Neopolitan 12x12 paper pad onto my card base. I cut down a piece of Canson cold press watercolor paper and added some dashed lines to the edges by using a Paper Smooches edge die. I wet the paper and added a light circular wash of Tim Holtz distress ink in worn lipstick to the paper and dried it with my heat tool. I inked up the edges of one of the cute little jars I fussy cut from the same American Crafts paper pad using Versa Magic chalk ink in pink grapefruit and added some pretty crinkle ribbon from Diana Larson's shop. I glued an adorable wood veneer butterfly from American Crafts in the center for a nice touch of interest. To finish my card I stamped the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Friendship Messages stamp set directly onto the jar and then popped the whole thing up with some 3M foam tape. I plan on sending this to my daughter who is in need of some encouragement right now.  I hope you like it and thank you for visiting my blog today!

Postcard Christmas

Today's card was created for the latest Jingle Belles Challenge. To create my card I started by layering some kraft cardstock from Hobby Lobby onto my white card base. I then stamped the wonderful Snowy Postcard stamp by Stampendous onto some Canson cold press watercolor paper using Versafine onyx black ink. I stamped the image twice. Using my Tim Holtz distress inks I laid down a light layer or tea dye onto the base layer and dried it with my heat tool. I popped it up off of my card base using 3M foam tape.  I watercolored the second image I stamped and fussy cut it out around the oval and the holly branch. I edged it with my dual tip Memento marker and adhered it directly to the base panel. I finished this card off by adding some clear Wink of Stella to the snowy caps on the roof lines and around the ground. 

Coffee And Friends-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Hello and welcome to another Coffee and Cards with Celeste and Deb collaboration. We have another guest designer with us this month, the wonderful Hetty Sanders. Hetty is a fabulous crafter from the Netherlands and is responsible for the Coffee Lovers card swap and we can't thank her enough for all of the tireless work she puts into making that happen each month!

  

This month we opted for a mood board and, I chose this pretty pastel palette for our starting point. Love the beautiful colors!  I wanted to create a fun and sweet card representing my friendship with my dear friend Deb. She and I met on the Coffee Lovers Facebook group years ago and have been close crafty friends ever since.  I created this card to represent Deb and I. She's blonde and I'm brunette and I think it's clear we both love our coffee! I started by cutting down some pretty ombre patterned paper in pink from the We R Memory Keepers Chalkboard 6x6 paper pad and mounted it directly onto my white card base. I then die cut a stitched line rectangle panel using some Canson cold press watercolor paper. I stamped the table from the Sugar Pea Designs Read Between The Lines stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. The coffee cups are from the Your Next Stamp's Perk Up stamp set. The friends are the new Unity Stamp Company's Planner Gals, Don't Be Perfect and Be A Beauty. And the sentiment is from Reverse Confetti's Be A Barista stamp set. Once all of the images were dry I watercolored them using my Tim Holtz distress inks. To finish off the card I popped the panel up using some 3M foam tape, added some clear Wink of Stella to the flowers in their hair, the coffee mugs, and their shirts, and added a few clear rhinestones from Recollections as a finishing touch. 

As for my coffee choice this month, I opted for a small Starbucks Iced Cascara Coconut Milk Latte. It was good but not my favorite latte they offer. Anyway, be sure to pop on over to Hetty and Deb's site, and be sure and wish her a happy birthday too! 

Big Holiday Wishes

Today's card was create for a challenge but I completed it too late to participate. To create my card I started with a piece of Canson cold pressed watercolor paper, smooth side up. Using my Misti stamping tool I stamped the XOXO border from the Simon Says Stamp Big Holiday Wishes stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. The Misti stamping tool came in handy since I was stamping onto watercolor paper and even though I was stamping on the smoother side of the paper it took several stampings to get a good impression. I then stamped the focal sentiment and the strings for my mitten onto the watercolor paper using the same ink and heat embossed it using some Zing clear embossing powder. I did this so I could watercolor around the image and not have the ink dull from the ink. Using Tim Holtz distress ink in faded jeans I watercolored the focal panel and added some splotches and dots using an acetate sheet and the smooshing technique. I then stamped the mittens from the same stamp set onto some plain white cardstock and used Gina K Designs ocean mist ink to stamp the coordinating heart on the mittens. I fussy cut those out and popped them up off of the card using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. For a finishing touch I added some clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the mittens for some pretty shimmer and shine. I hope you like my card! Please don't forget to leave a comment. 

Wintertime Wishes

Today's card was created for both the Case This Sketch and Jingle Belles challenges. I am still in the midst of making Christmas cards for next year so love the opportunity to challenge me to make holiday cards and I love this sketch, so I thought I'd combine the two together to create one fun card! I started by die cutting a piece of Canson watercolor paper using a Gina Marie Designs stitched edge rectangle die. Using a smooshing technique and some Tim Holtz spun sugar distress ink I added a nice wash of pink to the background. On a separate piece of watercolor paper I combined Tim Holtz spun sugar, worn lipstick, and picked raspberry distress inks together to create a nice variegated look and then die cut the sheet using some pretty My Favorite Things snowflake dies. I added a bit of Wink of Stella to the snowflakes and adhered them directly onto the die cut panel. Using a small star shape from the Simon Says Stamps Hand Lettered Wishes stamp set and some light grey ink I added a few more "snowflake" details around the card. I then prepped a piece of Stampin' UP's basic black cardstock using my EK Success powder tool and stamped the sentiment from the Power Poppy Cozy Cupfuls stamp set using Versamark ink and some Recollections snow white embossing powder. Once heat set I cut the sentiment panel down and popped it up off of the card using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I popped the focal panel up off of the card using 3M foam tape for a bit of dimension. I hope you like this fun, non-traditional holiday card!

Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb-Part 2

Welcome to the second week of my collaboration with my friend Debra Davison of Meticulosity. We are doing a coffee and card collaboration every Sunday for the entire month of October. This week we decided to focus on the color pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. For my card I opted to focus on the people who take care of those suffering with cancer; whether that be a doctor, a nurse, caregiver, family member or friend. Coping with cancer is hard on everyone involved and I wanted this card to pay homage to those who are strong in the face of something horrible because I really do think they make a difference in the lives of cancer patients. For my card I started by layering on a piece of basic black cardstock from Stampin' UP that I had embossed using a honeycomb embossing folder from Momenta. I then prepped a piece of Canson coldpress watercolor paper using my EK Success powder tool and stamping the images from Unity Stamp Company's You Can & You Will stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. I then heat set the ink by sprinkling on some clear embossing powder by Zing. I stamped the butterfly image twice...once onto to main focal panel and again onto a second piece so I could heat emboss it and fussy cut out the three butterflies. Using Tim Holtz distress inks in spun sugar, picked raspberry, and black soot I watercolored the background using a smooshing technique and added some flecks of black by flicking my brush against the back of my hand. I painted the three separate butterflies and mounted them up off of the card using some 3M foam tape. I popped the butterflies up using small pieces of Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. As for my coffee, again...my choice is always going to be black Seattle's Best French Roast. I know...boring! Please pop on over to Deb's page and show her some blogger love by leaving a comment and/or subscribing! Thank you for stopping by!

Hello

Today's card was created for the latest Just Us Girls and The Male Room challenges . I love that autumn is finally here in the Midwest and jumped at the chance to create a card showcasing the beauty of the season. I started by layering on some kraft cardstock from Hobby Lobby onto a white card base. I then cut a panel 1/4" smaller and stamped the sentiment from Winnie & Walter's The Big The Bold & The Happy's stamp set at the bottom right corner using Gina K Designs ink in charcoal brown. I then took some Canson watercolor paper and did a smooshing and spritzing technique using 3 colors of Tim Holtz distress inks and dried the paper fully. Once dry I punched the leaves out using an EK Success leaf punch and then inked around the edges with Tim Holtz tea dye ink to give it a more distressed look. I added some Lawn Fawn twine in oatmeal and gold around the panel of the card and then mounted the leaves up off of the card using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I added a bow using a glue dot, and called this card done. I hope you like it!

Happy Birthday Poppies

Today's card was created for the latest Addicted To Stamps And More challenge. The challenge was to create a clean and simple card...something I struggle with. I really love layers and patterned papers so doing a one layer or CAS card is tough for me. But I managed to break out of my comfort zone with this one by doing some light watercoloring on an embossed image. I started by prepping some Canson coldpress watercolor paper with my EK Success powder tool and then stamped the poppy image from Unity Stamp Company's Wishing You Joy stamp set and then birthday greeting from Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Borders stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. I covered the images with Zing clear embossing powder and heat set them using my heat tool. Once that was cooled I did some very light watercoloring using Tim Holtz distress ink in spun sugar and picked raspberry. Then cut the watercolor panel down to 1/4" smaller than my white card base and mounted it directly onto the card using Sookwang double-sided tape so it would keep it from warping. Love how pretty this turned out!

Have A Wonderful Day

Today's card was created for the latest Just Us Girls challenge. I have to admit that watercoloring is not really my coloring medium of choice. The truth is I'm just not that good at it. I like to do the smooshing technique but actual painting is not really my forte. But I thought I would work with an image that didn't really require a lot of painting skills and would be forgiving of my somewhat sloppy painting skills. I started with a piece of cold pressed Canson watercolor paper and stamped the Stampendous Ranunculous Fields stamp using Versafine onyx black ink. I immediately covered the stamped image with clear embossing powder from Zing and heat embossed it. I like using this technique because the heat embossing creates a small ridge on the paper that helps keep the paint in check and, trust me, I need all of the help I can get when it comes to painting! LOL. I painted the image in using Tim Holtz distress inks and once I was finished I dried it with my heat tool and then covered the entire panel with some pretty Tsukineko sheer shimmer spritz for a nice, all over shine and shimmer. The distress inks react to the moisture from the spray so it leaves pretty little water droplets all over the image too. I cut the panel down and added some foam tape to the back and mounted it onto my card base, which I had covered with some bright canary yellow cardstock from Hobby Lobby. I die cut the sentiment panels using Verve Stamps Mini Classy Label dies and stamped the greeting from the Waltzing Mouse Old Country Roses stamp set. I popped the sentiment panel up off of the card using more foam tape and added a few 6mm clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to complete my card. I hope you like it! 

Just Because

Today's card was created for the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge. As soon as I saw this sketch I had to case it immediately. I bought the MFT feather dies last year during a sale and am embarrassed to say that I've not used them once since they were shipped to me. So, I knew I had to break them out and use them for this one. I started with a white card base and layered on a piece of patterned paper from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy 6x6 paper pad. I die cut a piece of Canson watercolor paper and layered on some distress ink in picked raspberry. Once I heat dried the paper I added some 3M foam tape to the back for dimension and to help straighten out the paper after watercoloring it. I cut down a small strip of white cardstock and stamped the sentiment from The Cat's Pajama's Simply Stacked Sentiments stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. I adhered the strip straight to the focal panel and then die cut the feathers using the same American Crafts paper pad. I inked the edges with the same distress ink and adhered the smaller once straight to the card. I popped the other feather up using foam dimensionals from Stampin' UP. A few scattered sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh in 4mm and 6mm finished this card off. I hope you like it!

Thank You

Today's card was created for The Challenge sketch #63. I started with a piece of Canson cold press watercolor paper that I die cut using a stitched edge rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. Using Altenew's Painted Poppy Stamp set I stamped the outline poppy image three times using Versafine onyx black ink and the leaf outline image on one of the poppies. I created a mask for each of the outlined images using Inkadinkado masking paper and adhered those onto each image. I created a simple mask for my panel using some typing paper and adhered that down to my panel using temporary adhesive. I inked up my Stampin' UP French Script background stamp using some Tim Holtz black soot distress ink and gave it a mist before stamping it onto my panel. I wanted a nice loose, watercolored look and I like the way it turned out. Once that dried I removed all of my masks and inked the inside of the poppies using Tim Holtz distress inks in spiced marmalade and fired brick and for the leaf I used brushed corduroy and picket fence, misting each color before stamping it onto the paper. I mounted the panel to a piece of black cardstock from Stampin' UP and adhered that to my card base. Using the thank you sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Borders I and some Versamark ink I stamped the sentiment onto the same black cardstock and heat embossed it using some white detail powder from Recollections. I cut the fishtail banner by hand and adhered it onto my card. I could see making a whole collection of these and just changing the sentiment out. 

Thinking Of You

I created this card for the latest Just Us Girls word week challenge. I bought the gorgeous Memory Box Sketch Rose Branch die off Blitsy about two months ago and simply forgot I had it until yesterday. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I saw the word challenge was flowers because it was the perfect excuse to crack the seal on the package and play with my new die! I had originally thought about coloring the die cut image with Copics and setting it against a white embossed background but changed my mind and decided to go with some simple watercoloring. I started with some Canson cold-pressed watercolor paper and stamped the sentiment from The Cat's Pajama's Simply Stacked Sentiments stamp set in Versafine onyx black ink and then heat embossed it using some clear embossing powder by Zing. I wet my watercolor paper with some clean water and then started dabbing on some distress ink in spun sugar and worn lipstick until I was happy with the color and coverage and then heat set it to dry. I die cut the floral image three times and layered it together using a Zig two-way glue pen. I die cut the watercolor panel using a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs, which helped flatten it out after watercoloring and heat drying. I popped the focal panel up using some 3M foam tape and mounted it onto a black panel cut slightly larger and then mounted them both to my white card base. I added the die cut floral image last using some more Zig glue and put a few acrylic blocks on it to help it adhere and dry. I love how pretty it turned out!

Confetti

Today's card was created for the CYCI color challenge. I love the bright and happy combo of white, yellow, and turquoise and had just picked up the perfect stamp set to combine with this happy trio.  I started my card with a piece of canary yellow textured cardstock from the Ki 6x6 bright cardstock paper pad, textured it with dotted embossing folder from Lifestyle Krafts, and mounted it to my card base. I die cut a piece of Canson cold-press watercolor paper using a stitched edge rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs and stamped the sentiment from Unity Stamp Company's Confetti Kindness using Versafine onyx black ink, covered it with some Zing clear embossing powder and heat embossed it. I got my watercolor panel good and wet and then covered it lightly with some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in salty ocean for a nice wash. I dabbed a bit of extra color in the center just to darken it more and then heat set it. Once dry I misted the entire panel with Tsunkineko sheer shimmer mist for a pretty opalescent shine.  I scattered a few sequins from The Ton and Pretty Pink Posh in canary yellow, turquoise, and marshmallow in 6mm and 4mm sizes and then mounted my panel up off of the card base using some 3M foam tape. I just love this stamp set and think I will have to make some card sets in various colors using it. It's a cute but true statement! Anyway, I hope you like it!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today's card was created for my daughter to give to my granddaughter Journey for Valentine's Day. The child absolutely loves purple and is addicted to My Little Pony. I saw the adorable Magical Friends stamp set by The Greeting Farm Stamp company featured on the Marker Pop blog two weeks ago and knew I had to get it! I started with some Canson cold pressed watercolor paper and an inexpensive watercolor palette I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby this weekend. I laid down some water onto the paper and got it nice and wet and then slowly started to lay in my colors in a rainbow fashion until I got the color and saturation that I desired. I heat dried it with my heat gun and then misted the paper with Tsukineko frost shimmer spritz to give a gorgeous allover shimmer. I cut the whole panel using a rectangle stitched die from Gina Marie Designs and mounted it onto some dark purple textured cardstock from The Paper Studio and adhered it onto my white card base. I die cut a small pierced edge circle with dies from My Favorite Things from the same purple cardstock and then punched some little hearts using my Stampin' UP owl builder punch and adhered those onto my card. I stamped the adorable little unicorn from The Greeting Farm stamp set and colored her in using Copics in cool grays, purples, and a little pink for the cheeks. I fussy cut the image out and popped it up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals and adhered it to the card. For the final touch I added a bit of clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to the mane and tail. This card turned out so adorably and I'm so glad I snagged this stamp set. I see getting a lot of use out of it!