Sunday, December 25, 2016

Sunday Sip and Share...Merry Christmas!


Hello there coffee loving friends!  It's Kerry here with a final 2016 Sip and Share post!  It's also Christmas Day!  Merry Christmas to you.  It's also day 2 of Hannukkah and I want to wish all those who are celebrating the festival of lights an amazing day!
While we gather to celebrate and carry on family traditions, one of those traditions is the sharing of gifts. I created this special gift box (with something special inside) to send to someone special.  I incorporated some of this person's very favorite things...To create this box, I used Fun Stampers Journey Treat Boxes

I love these little treat boxes (that come in a pack of TEN) and use them often for small crafty gifts.  I stamped a strip of Hazelnut Blend cardstock with the Knitted Houndstooth (retired) background stamp in Black Licorice Ink.  After that, I mounted a piece of Kiwi Slice onto a stamped and colored steamy coffee panel (Le Cafe stamp set).
After creating and mounting the stamped panel and belly band to the box, I added some twine to hold it tie the box closed.  I then focused on the deer.  I stamped the deer from Winter Holiday stamp and die bundle with Oatmeal Cookie ink then rubbed a bit of Brushed Gold Pan Pastel over the ink.  This allowed the slight shimmer/sheen from the gold to adhere to the ink creating a beautiful soft golden image. After that, I die cut the deer and applied some Black Journey Twine and a little Sparkle Drop.    
To finish the box off, I splattered some Gold Silk and Dark Roast Silk to the image and then a few more Sparkle Drops.
I had so much fun creating this quick and fun gift box.  Now, it's off to the mailbox it goes on Monday! Hoping it gets to its destination in short time! :)
Now, my Sip and Share wouldn't be complete without a fun sketch right?  Well, there's only ONE MORE WEEK to participate in this month's sketch challenges (you can use any of our December sketches).  I'll select one lucky participant to receive a yummy coffee loving prize!
When posting to social media, please tag @coffee_crafts as well as #clcsipandshare so we'll be sure to see it!  Then, come back here and add your link to our inlinkz below!  

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Cocoa Treats...


The Coffee Lovers Blog hop is in FULL SWING!  Are you participating in the hop?  Make sure to check out my creations while you're hopping along.  I hope you find they absolutely delish!  

Today, I'm sharing a Cocoa-Loving project!  Yep!  I've got to since today IS cocoa's day to SHINE!!! 
Hey there cocoa loving friends!  It's I'm back with a yummy Cocoa treat package for you.  Since it's International Cocoa Lovers Day, I thought I'd join in with a little tasty treat!   I paired up the fun Cozy Wishes stamp set and the Planner Sketch stamp set with some Cranberry Bliss cardstock to create a yummy little pouch that contains some Cocoa-Mallow popcorn! The Black Licorice Ink is a trendy companion to the rich red cardstock, don'tcha think?!
I colored the cozy with my Copic markers.  I also added a few swirls of color around the stamped circles too.  It allowed for a bit more dimension and helped finish off that circle pattern.  The Gold disc (from Target), The Black Journey Twine, Jute and little strip of black and white fabric, as well as an itty bitty black button finish this fun package off!
It's pretty simple to make this tasty treat!  All you need is some fresh popped popcorn (I used packaged Orville Redenbacher's Microwave Butter Flavored popcorn), a package of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate and a few spoonfuls of Kraft Mini Marshmallows.  Mix all this together in a bowl and shake the excess hot chocolate powder off.  You can use the extra to make a cup of creamy hot chocolate afterwards!  Package the popcorn mixture into a zip-top bag and insert into the gusseted tag opening.  I add an extra pack of hot chocolate too because popcorn and hot chocolate are a perfect pair!  

Thanks for stopping by my blog on this Winter Coffee-Loving Hop!  I hope you've been inspired by the many tasty creations that have been shared thus far.  I'll be back again tomorrow with another treat to share...Until then, I'm off to hop, hop, hop away!  

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Beary Cute Mug Rug...Winter Coffee Lovers Hop

It's DAY 3 of the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and I'm back with my third treat to share...This time, it's not a card.  It's a cute little Mug Rug created especially for...ME!  
Did you know I'm a bear collector?  On top of all the stamps, inks and other crafty things I *collect*, one of the most special collections I have is my collection of stuffed bears.  I love them!  The little bear in this photo is actually my Mom's childhood bear (and christening gown) and because I'm a teddy bear collector, she gave it to me.  It's one of my most treasured possessions.   

I decided to create a little Teddy Bear Mug Rug using an adorable Teddy Bear stamp called Beary Best.  It's such an adorable stamp and It worked well on my fabric design.  Oh, and those cookies, I made them today.  They're actually heading to my classroom for a fun Paint Your Own Cookie event this week.  They're pretty tasty!
So wanna know how I created this adorable quilted mug rug?  Well, first, I colored some cotton fabric (an old sheet) using some Sweet Berry Splash.  I have a collection of jars filled with water and Splashes in my fridge and they come in handy when I want to dye some fabric.  I heat set the color and then stamped the bear onto the fabric.  I heat set the bears too.
After that, I painted a light coating of reinker on the fabric.  In hindsight, I probably wouldn't do that again because the reinker bled a bit.  It was ok since the bear is a bit on the shabby side anyway.
See how the color bled a bit.  It's because of the oil in the reinker.  When I was light-handed on the ink it was ok, but when I added too much ink on my brush, it bled.
I do love how the Splash created a marbleized/tiedyed effect on the fabric!

After finishing my fabric design, it was time to sew it together. For the backing, I selected some fabric remnants that belonged to my grandma.  I also added some cotton batting and sewed it up on my sewing machine.  After it was sewn together, I used a meandering stitch all over the fabric to quilt the layers together.
After finishing the stitch work, I focused on a little girly pleated ruffle on one edge.  My needle broke right when I was done adding the pleats so I had to add a temporary pink bow to finish it off.  
I hope you enjoyed today's Winter Project.  It's such a fun little cookie/hot chocolate mat!  Tomorrow I'll be back to share the Beary Cute card and another tasty treat!  :)  Now back to hopping!  

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Kisses and Hugs...Winter Coffee Lovers Hop

Hello there coffee loving friends!  Today is Day 2 of the Winter Coffee Lovers Hop and as promised, I have two new projects to share with you!  As a Super Sponsor for the hop, I'm excited to again be sharing my love for Fun Stampers Journey Products with my coffee-loving friends.  This time, I'm sharing some of our amazing dies, punches and embossing folders (with an itty bitty sentiment set too).  You can find my second project over on my NON FSJ blog HERE.  

To create my card, I first embossed my Whip Cream cardstock using the Petals Wall embossing folder.  I love the texture it provides to understated elegance cards.  I also diecut Kiwi Slice and Lemongrass Cardstock using the Summer Branch die.  Today, it wanted to be Mistletoe (hee hee).  I also punched the little tag out of Oatmeal Cookie cardstock using the Tag This punch and handle. The itty bitty sentiment comes from the ATS stamp set called Tag Elements.  To add a few red berries to the mix, I used my Press Punch and a few Cranberry Bliss scraps.  I mounted the card panel onto Lemongrass Cardstock and then onto a Rich Coral card base.
As a coordinating gift, I added more "Mistletoe", Candy Apple Red ribbon, Black Licorice twine and a little Sparkle Drop to tie off a bag of fresh green coffee beans.  This is a special blend of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rica Monte Brisas (White Honey) and Brazil Estancia Lecy.  I love roasting my own green coffee beans and I hope the recipient of this special gift will too!
Thanks so much for stopping by and for leaving some love.  I appreciate you visiting and wish you luck in the sponsorship prize draws!  Hope you have a fabulous time hopping along.  See you again tomorrow!  :)

Friday, December 9, 2016

Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Woo Hoo!!!  It's finally here!  The most fun hop in town!  It's time for another fun Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and I'm excited to be joining all of YOU for a fabulous journey around the blog-a-sphere for some yummy coffee-tea-cocoa loving projects!  I'm excited to once again be a SUPER SPONSOR for this hop.  I'll be awarding one lucky participant a fabulous coffee-loving prize:  $25.00 gift certificate to my online FSJ shop. 

I'll be joining the hop each and every day to share some fun projects that feature coffee-tea-cocoa loving projects, so make sure to stop back every day for my treats.  

Today's treat is a little giftie I created.  I'd like to say it's a bit of aromatherapy.  When you feel the need for a caffeinated jolt, just open the bottle and take a whiff...Just don't whiff to strong- you don't want the grounds to go up your nose!  LOL
Yes, I took a trip to a Trader Joe's specifically on the search for yummy coffeelicious treats!  Since it's the holidays, I discovered a few yummy flavored coffees.  Oh this gingerbread coffee is deelish.  It's got a delicious ginger flavor with just the slightest hint of cinnamon and cloves.  It packs a chocolate aroma too-so it's just perfect for a little sniff-sniff.  Adding the coffee to a FSJ Journey Girl Bloom Catcher and chain creates the perfect coordinated gift...all that was left was the itty-bitty card!  
In order to make my gift complete, I created a little card to attach to my gift bag that this gift set will be delivered in.  I stamped and colored (with Copics) the steamy coffee mug from Le Cafe stamp set , added some red/white bakers twine and added a snippet of gold washi tape.  the card was attached to a Kraft card base using some of that yummy bakers twine!
MMM...It smells divine...and tastes good too! :)  Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your sweet comments.  I hope to see you again tomorrow as I share another coffee-loving creation.  Have fun on the hop!  :)