Let Us Give Thanks-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Hello and welcome to the November edition of Coffee and Cards With Celeste and Deb! Can you believe Thanksgiving is past us and we are less than a month away from Christmas? I can't...this year has just slipped on past me. This month Deb and I thought it fitting that our theme should be "gratitude!"  To create my card I started with an A2 card base made out of Stampin' UP crumbcake cardstock. I then cut a panel slightly smaller than the base and stamped the rick rack border from the Hot Off The Press Stamped Stitches stamp set using Memento ink in rich cocoa. I then stamped the floral vines from the Stampin' UP Thankful Forest Friends stamp set onto the card. I stamped the sentiment from WPlus9's Pretty Patches: Pumpkin stamp set onto the card and then stamped the pumpkin onto a separate piece of crumbcake cardstock using memento inks and die cut the image using the coordinating dies. I added it to the card using some foam dimensionals from Stampin' UP for a ittle extra dimension and that completes my card. 

This month we thought it would be fun to do a little giveaway. Here is what I have for one lucky winner! 

How We Roll stamp set from Simon Says Stamp, a "create" die from Taylored Expressions, and a mini cube of Delicata ink in White Shimmer!

As for my coffee choice I opted for a large iced Peppermint Mocha latte from McDonald's. I'm training for a half marathon in April and did a long, tough 11 miles this morning, so this seemed like the perfect way to cap off my run!

Now be sure to pop on over to Deb's blog and check out her fun cards and what fun goodies she is offering for a giveaway!  

With Love-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Hello and welcome to the April Coffee and Cards with Celeste and Deb collaboration. This month we have another fun guest designer joining us, my friend Maria Giselle, who I had the pleasure of meeting at a Copic coloring certification class in St. Louis two years ago. And here's a fun fact about the three of us...Deb, Maria, and myself are all in the healthcare industry and we all share a love of card making and crafting!

So, despite mother nature doing her best to hang onto winter (in our area at least) we thought it would be fun to use the above photo as our inspiration and focus on a springtime project. I used the inspiration photo quite literally and started my project with a piece of basic black cardstock from Stampin' UP and prepped it with my EK Success powder tool. I then stamped the wreath from the WPlus9 Valentine Wishes stamp set onto the cardstock using Versamark ink. I then selectively sprinkled some Zing embossing powder in rouge onto the flowers and then Recollections embossing powder in snow white onto the rest. I then stamped the sentiment from the Winnie & Walter The  Big, The Bold, and the Happy stamp set in the center of the wreath and sprinkled more white embossing powder onto it. I hit it with my heat tool to set it and then added some white dashed lines around the outer edge of the card using my white gel pen. I added some fun foam to the back of the panel and popped it up off of my white card base and that completes my card. Love how clean and simple this is but offers so much impact. I may have to duplicate this card using different sentiments in the center! 

For my coffee selection this month I opted for a Dunkin Donuts mocha macchiato and as a side bonus I got a donut for free with my purchase! Coffee and a donut? That's a win in my book any day! Now be sure to pop on over to Deb and Maria's blogs and check out what gorgeousness they've created! Thank you for stopping by today and be sure to leave a comment and subscribe. 

For You-Unity {show & tell} Sketch Challenge

My card today was created for the latest Unity {show & tell} Facebook group sketch challenge. I love this sketch and have used one similar to it months back during a collaboration with my friend Debra Davison. To create my card I started by stamping the image from the March Unity Stamp Company kit of the month Stay Classy that I borrowed from my buddy Becky onto some Copic-friendly cardstock. I colored the image using some muted spring tones for a nice vintage look and cut the image down into a rectangle panel. I then mounted some patterned paper from Glitz Love You Madly 6x6 paper pad onto my white card base. I cut the focal image down into a rectangle panel and then cut more of the patterned paper to match the sketch. I assembled the card in the manner of the sketch and then stamped the sentiment from the WPlus9 Strictly Sentiments stamp set onto more white cardstock and mounted it onto the card using foam dimensionals from Scrapbook Adhesives. I popped the focal image up off of the card using some fun foam from Hobby Lobby. To finish my card and complete the sketch I added some Ranger Enamel Accents in glacier white to the ends of the accent strips. I love how beautifully this turned out. Thank you for visiting my blog and if you like my card be sure to leave a comment. 

Christmas Wishes

Today's adorable little elf Christmas card was created for the latest Merry Monday and Send A Smile 4 Kids challenges. I created my card by layering on some adorable printed papers from the American Crafts Wish List 6x6 paper pad onto my white card base. I then added a small strip of glitter paper from the Paper Studio Glittered Cardstock paper pad in a coordinating green. I cut some fishtail banners using some more of the same green glitter paper, some cherry cobbler red cardstock from Stampin' UP, and some white cardstock from Staples using some Jillian Vance dies and adhered them directly onto the card. I then die cut a scalloped circle using a Spellbinders die and a white circle using a My Favorite Things pierced circle die. I stamped the tree onto the white circle panel using the larger tree stamp from the Simon Says Stamp Be Joyful stamp set and the stump from the WPlus9 Pretty Patches stamp set. I then stamped the adorable little elf onto some Copic-friendly cardstock using the Stampendous Snowy Short Stacks stamp set and colored him in using Copic markers. I fussy cut him out and went all around the edges with my dual tip Memento black marker for a nice clean look. I popped him up off of the focal panel using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. Using my We R Memory Keepers corner chomper I rounded the corners and added some black dashed lines all around the outer edge of the card and the focal circle panel. I also added some pretty shimmer to the elf and the tree using my Sakura clear star gelly roll pen. I love how adorably this turned out and plan on mass duplicating it to donate to the Send A Smile 4 Kids card drive. I hope you like it and don't forget to leave a comment and subscribe. Thanks!

Season's Greetings

My second card today was created for the Merry Monday and Inkspirational Christmas card challenges. I have several deer stamps and dies and had a tough time deciding which ones to use. I decided I wanted to create a quiet, serene scene where deer would be found. I cracked out a stamp that I've owned for well over a year but I'm embarrassed to say I've never used. I wiped the dust off of my Hero Arts Winter Trees stamp and stamped it using some clear Versamark ink. I then did some masking and stamped only the deer on the Memory Box Deer In The Field stamp. I used the sentiment from the WPlus9 Pretty Patches stamp set. I heat embossed it all using Ranger liquid platinum embossing powder and seriously love the way it turned out! I popped the whole panel up onto a plain white card base using some foam tape and added a bit of DMC gold cross stitching floss. My only regret was that the floss started unraveling as I was tying the bow. I tried several pieces and all of them did the same thing. I finally gave up and adhered it down with a glue dot but am still not happy with that bow. I guess I'd better find some different twine or floss. But I am happy with the card overall and am sorry it took me so long to break out this beautiful stamp! 

  

Season's Greetings

My second card today was created for the Merry Monday Christmas card challenge #167 over at the Merry Monday blog. The challenge is to create a Christmas card using the inspiration photo either for a theme, color combo, or sketch. I chose to go with hearts so I broke out my WPlus9 Pretty Patches Christmas set with matching dies. I die cut three trees and hearts using the coordinating dies and then stamped them using some Memento northern pine for for the trees, VersaMagic gingerbread for the trunks, and Gina K cranberry tart for the patchwork hearts. I created my card base using some kraft cardstock I picked up at Hobby Lobby and die a side folding card. I layered on some 110lb white cardstock from Staples and stamped the same tree trunk in Gina K charcoal brown at the top to create a sort of checkerboard effect. I added a piece of beautiful plaid paper from the Carta Bella Warm & Cozy 6x6 paper collection and added a small strip of the same kraft cardstock to ground it all. I glued the hearts to the center of the trees and then popped them up onto Stampin' UP foam dimensionals to really make them pop off of the card. I cut a cute banner from an MFT banner collection and stamped the greeting from the same WPlus9 stamp set in cranberry tart and then popped it up onto foam dimensionals as well.  I rounded the corners using my We R Memory Keepers corner chomper using the 1/8" side for a slightly rounded look. I hope you like it!