Scrapping for Less ~ Flavor of the Month ~ Perk Up & Start the New Year

 Let’s “Perk Up and Start the New Year” with our January Flavor of the Month kit. 

I have a little story to tell…I never drank coffee until I retired about 6 years ago from teaching school…cause who wants a cold cup of what is supposed to be hot coffee? So now…with my wonderful flavored creamer I enjoy a cup of coffee every morning and especially love drinking my coffee while watching crafty videos on YouTube…so sit back and take a look at our Coffee themed FOTM blog hop this month. If you have not already snagged your kit please head over to the Flavor of the Month page and scroll down to choose the level of kit you would like! Make sure you head to the website to check out the rafflecopter, as well, to enter to win a prize!

P.S. I am behind on choosing prizes so stay tuned for those winners on the Teresa Talks 

post on Feb. 1st.

Oh My Goodness!!! When I received my card kit this month... I was crazy excited to start playing! If you follow my blog, you may have noticed that I love coffee! It's nearly an obsession... definitely an addiction! LOL! I actually made 8 cards for this hop and release... I could have made more, but I ran out of time! So this kit seriously blew me away and I'll stop chit chatting about it now so we can get to the cards!

For my first card I used Sketch #1 with Collection One.

I wanted to showcase some of the gorgeous Coffee Time papers in this collection but also had to use some of the fabulous ephemera... all by Scrapping for Less!! The browns and blues in these papers are absolutely gorgeous!! So rich and beautiful... I could just gush about them all day! But I won't... because we have more cards!

For my second card I used Sketch #2 with Collection One.

So you're going to notice that I used variations of sketch #2 for each of the collections and I have to admit that I absolutely love this sketch! It has a great balance of papers and endless possibilities for the focal image! Love love love it!! Oh, and for a little tip for this sketch... I cut the papers into strips and didn't actually layer them over each other. So the top paper is 4-1/4 x 2-1/4", the middle paper is 4-1/4 x 1-3/4", and the bottom paper is 4-1/4 x 1/4". All of those papers are adhered to a Whip Cream card base. I used the following Copic markers to color the beautiful coffee cup from the Humming Along stamp set by Scrapping for Less in Collection One.

Steam ~ N0, N1, N4, Colorless Blender

Cup/Saucer ~ BG000, BG90, B0000, B000,T0, T1, T3, (W1 - heart)

Coffee ~ E27, E47, E49

For my third card I used Sketch #2 with Collection Two.

Here is my first variation on sketch #2... I used the wood icon cup and bubbles in place of the oval/banner focal images in the sketch. I just couldn't cover up the pretty cups in the Love, Coffee and Donuts paper by Scrapping for Less... and the plaid!! Oh my! Love it!

For my fourth card I used Sketch #4 with Collection Two.

Isn't Newton just the cutest hanging from that donut?! I adore this stamp... and I just had to pair it with the fun donut papers in the collection. I also added some of the paper with coffee cups on the top so that I could tie the sentiment in with the card. The top sentiment goes with the main image, but the bottom sentiment I borrowed (and masked to get it just right for my design) from the fabulous Melting Snowman stamp set made exclusively for Scrapping for Less by Your Next Stamp that is included in the Banana Split subscription. 

I used ZIG clean color real brush pens to color in sweet Newton on Canson XL watercolor paper from my stash.

For my fifth card I used Sketch #2 with Collection Three.

For this one, I die cut the focal image using a stitched rectangle die instead of an oval, as seen on the sketch. I also popped up the focal image and the sentiment. I just had to use some of the sequins in the collection by Scrapping for Less... such a perfect mix of colors and sizes!

I also colored this image using ZIG clean color real brush pens on Canson XL watercolor paper from my stash.

For my sixth card I used Sketch #3 with Collection Three.

I fell in love with this beautiful blue paper so there was no way I was going to cover it up. With that being said... I did not stick to the sketch on this one. I omitted two elements on the sketch and enlarged my focal image. Speaking of the focal image... is this melting snowman just the absolute cutest!! He just melted my heart! He's part of the Melting Snowman stamp set included in the Banana Split subscription. I stamped him and the sentiment using VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I then water colored him using ZIG clean color real brush pens. In fact, I stamped and heat embossed all of my watercolored images. I find that to be an easy way of keeping the watercolors where you want them to be. :)

For my seventh card I used Sketch #2 with Collection Four.

This is another variation of sketch #2 using the beautiful Anya for my focal image. I am loving this sweet Brew It Anya stamp... I used her for my sneak peek card. If you missed that card you can check it out here ---> Sneak Peek Card. 

I stamped Anya with VersaMark watermark ink on Canson XL watercolor paper and then heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I then watercolored the image using ZIG clean color real brush pens. I fussy cut the image and adhered it to a Cotton Candy card base with the strips of Echo Park Coffee papers.

I love the snarky fun coffee sentiments in the Echo Park Coffee paper included in this collection. I wanted to focus on this sentiment so I cut out an additional one and popped it up over the other. Seriously, love this sentiment!

For my eighth and final card I used Sketch #4 with Collection Four.

For this card I flipped the sketch and omitted the half circles. Since I was using a larger focal image (one of the cut aparts included in the collection) the half circles would have just been lost in the design so out they went! To keep a tiny 'touch' of circles in the card design, I did decided to add some of the pretty enamel dots included in the collection. Such a simple card design... what's not to love!

Here's a look at the Double Dip Subscription.

Here's a look at the Banana Split Subscription.

Next up on the hop is Lynnea!

After checking out the hop, make sure to join the Rafflecopter back on the SFL blog to have a chance to win an awesome prize!!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

Crystal

But First... Coffee!

Hi! I'm back with my 8th... and sadly, last... card for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. I love these hops so much... it's so sad it has to come to an end. I agonized over which coffee set to use for my final card... and this cutie won out!

This sweet stamp is from Love Cynthia... isn't she darling!? The stamp set is called Lili C. Series #07.

I started off by wanting to make an eclipse card but the patterned paper was a little too busy for that so I left the die cut negative as is with the Dark Chocolate card stock showing from behind. I adhered the bottom strip of patterned paper and then adhered the whole piece to a kraft card base.

I stamped this sweet girl on white card stock with memento tuxedo black ink and colored her in with the following copic markers ~  RV0000, RV06, RV63, Y11, E21, E31, E43, E47, E49, E55, N1. I die cut her out with a circle wonky die. I stamped the sentiment from another Love Cynthia set called Coffee Addict and then die cut it using a stitched banner die. I trimmed the banner and then popped up both the circle piece and the sentiment. And that's it for my final card for this hop!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

More Inspiration with the Coffee. Craft. Repeat! card kit!

Happy Wednesday! I'm here with another card that I created using the January Flavor of the Month card kit ~ Coffee. Craft. Repeat! Oh... I just love this kit!

I used the Crazy for Coffee papers by Your Next Stamp from Collection One to create all my layers. I also used some dark brown card stock in my stash and the white card stock included in the kit. I had fun die cutting the coffee cup with several different papers and putting it back together like a puzzle. I was left with enough pieces to make another card too! How fun is that?!

I stamped the sentiment using the Chocolate Brown ink pad included in the kit and trimmed it down and then mat it on the same dark brown card stock in my stash. I added a beautiful pink bow... now, I'm proud of this one!! I struggle with bows... and this one turned out pretty nice and it only took three tries! HAHA! I adhered all of my pieces and popped up the sentiment and the scalloped circle with the coffee cup. I also decided to add a few enamel dots from Collection One. I think this one turned out really nice! I hope it inspires you to get inky and make some fabulous cards with your January card kit! As I'm writing this blog post, there are still some Double Dip card kits left... you can purchase your kit... here!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Coffee... Coffee... Coffee...

I should really be unpacking... BUT I just had to make one more card for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. Why?! Well, because I love coffee, of course!! Ha!

For this card I used one of my most favorite stamps, Ellie Loves Lattes from Your Next Stamp! Isn't she the sweetest! 

 I stamped her in VersaMark and heat embossed her with some fine black embossing powder. I masked her and then using the Misti I stamped the word Coffee and the solid heart in a fun pattern. Almost like it's all that's on her mind. Ha! I took the mask off and then watercolored her using the ZIGs (still on my desk!). I got a bit distracted so the pattern on her skirt didn't quite turn out how I had envisioned it, but it's okay... she has coffee! I went back and added some yellow to the background to help make Ellie pop a bit more on the card and also to brighten up the card... it was looking a little more fall-ish. I used a couple of fun dies from My Favorite Things to cut the watercolor panel out and the black piece of card stock... Blueprints 15. Love this set of dies! I chose this fun paper from my last few pieces of SU!'s retired Have a Cuppa DSP. To finish it off I added some black twine and popped the whole panel up and adhered it to a white card base.

Now it's time for more coffee... 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal