Hello Coffee My Old Friend

I must confess I have become a little obsessed with coffee recently.  I never understood how my mom could drink coffee at all times of the day until now.  In honor of my coffee loving ways I broke out this little stamp/die/embossing folder set I got from Sizzix.  The stamps are one of the Tim Holtz coffee blueprints.




After I embossed the mini cups on a kraft piece of paper I direct inked the raised edges.  First I tried it with green.  I wanted to bring out the green from the cup.



I finished this one with one of the sentiments and the matching die.  I used my misti to stamp everything.  A few weeks ago while I was pinteresting I came across a blog post (unfortunately I don't remember where) about how the blogger had cut up a Sizzix Eclips mat to fit inside her misti for when she wants to stamp on die cuts that are too small for the magnet.  I have been doing that ever since.  It works great!



After I did the embossed piece in green I wanted to try it with a brown.  I pulled out my old trusty Vintage Photo distress ink.  This has been my go to brown since I bought it.  I used the direct to paper method again.  I tried sponging the ink on but it was getting too much ink on the parts that are not raised.



I finished this card off with the other sentiment stamped in Mowed Lawn distress ink.  I felt these would be perfect for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Bit O' Green.

Watercolor Birthday Blueprints

I decided to catalog my stamp sets because I couldn't remember what all I have and I've bought a couple two times.  In the process of doing this I have rediscovered sets that I haven't used in a while and several new sets that I put away before I used them.

Today I am going to share some cards I made with Tim Holtz Birthday Blueprints stamps.  I love the blueprint sets.  I like the versatility of the set.  I can go grunge or color and make it more cutesy.  The cards I am sharing today are done with watercolors.



I created my backgrounds with some  pearlized watercolors I've had for several years.
I was inspired to use the black and white with just one color from the Seize the Birthday Challenge.



For the balloon I used a pink version of the pearl watercolor.  The pearl is not showing up great in the pictures.




I love the look of gold flecks for a party.  To achieve my gold flecks I tried a toothbrush with acrylic paint but it wasn't quite the look I was going for so I switched to a stiff bristled paintbrush.  I loaded the paintbrush up and then just flicked my thumb across the bottom.  It was messy but I achieved the look I wanted.



I loved the color throwdown challenge combo this week of black, green, and gold.  I made one more background with the green.



I added gold glitter panels to finish off my cards.  I didn't really measure when I cut the watercolor paper so my cards ended up being different sizes based on how I layered them up.