Perfect Blend

Can you believe that we are almost at the end of March??  How has the month flown by so fast??  I know my crafty time has been super busy lately.  The Daily Marker 30 day challenge has been going strong and I've managed to participate most days.  Right now we are also in the middle of the Spring Coffee Lovers blog hop!  It's one of my favorite times of the year.

Anywho, let's get on to my project.  Craftin Desert Diva's has released several coffee themed digital stamps that would be perfect to play along with the Coffee Lovers blog hop.  You really don't even need a blog.  Just someplace where you have your picture online that you can link up to.

If you click here, it'll take your right to the coffee category in the Craftin Desert Divas store.

Oh yeah, I was supposed to share my project with you.  I got sidetracked!

This image is so super sweet!  I mean, a coffee and donut holding hands???   CUTENESS!!  I might be biased becuase I wouldn't mind having some donuts with my coffee.  Just sayin.  

I colored the stamp with Copic markers.  I also added Wink of Stella to the steam, the gray part of the coffee cup and the spoon. I think I even managed some on the teeny sprinkes!  Let me tell you folks, this card is heavy!  Including the card base, there are SIX layers of paper.  Yes, six.  I got a little carried away.  Both of the patterned papers are from Doodlebug.  The brown cardstock was from my stash and the think aqua layer was just colored with Copic markers to match the donut paper.  

The pink layer and the brown layer were cut out using two of the dies from the Fancy Frames set. The donut layer was cut out using one of the dies from the new release, Window Pane Die.  I found that the Fancy Frames die fit just perfectly inside the "pane" area of the die.  You'd never even know it wasn't a solid piece!  I layered everything up on a white card base and popped up the colored image with foam tape.  

I used the sentiment that is included with the digital stamp.  I cut it out using the speech bubble from the Mix It Up dies set.  The white paper was too much of a contrast so I colored it with Copics to match.  There you have it!  I hope you check out some of the great coffee digital stamps in the CDD store!

~Kristina

Craftin it old school

Hi everyone!  I'm back to share another Jess Crafts Digital project with you.  The release of this stamp is perfect timing if you are planning on participating in the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog hop!

I titled my project "old school" because I went back to some oldie but goodie techniques.  You know what I'm talking about.  The hobby of stamping has come a really long way but many of the techniques are just tried and true!  I really wanted the digital stamp to take front and center on my card so I kept it simple.  I grabbed a couple different coffee stamps and random stamped on the blue cardstock with blue and brown inks.  I did go over the beans with my Wink of Stella marker for some shimmer.  With the same blue ink I stamped the stripes.  I then ran it through with a coffee bean embossing folder.  I think I bought this folder after the last Coffee Lovers blog hop because I saw so many people using it!  I attached that strip to a piece of brown cardstock.  I then mounted those two pieces onto a white card base.

I colored this adorable Caffeinated Raccoon with Copic markers in tones similiar to the cardstock and inks I had already used.  I mounted it on a tan piece of cardstock, added some foam tape to the back and just eyeballed the center of the card.  Voila!  This cutie is available right now in Jess's Etsy store: Caffeinated Raccoon.

See you real soon!

~Kristina

Love you latte!

Hi gang!  Stopping by really quick to share a project for the Spring Coffee Lover's Blog Hop!  I look forward to this because I love seeing everyone's projects featuring coffee/tea/cocoa!  Me, I'm a coffee gal but I enjoy tea and cocoa too.  My project features an adorable digital stamp from Craftin Desert Divas that is being released just for the blog hop!

This bunny is so very cute!  Tara from Craftin Desert Diva's is going to be offering Bunny Latte as a freebie during the blog hop (March 24th-31st).  Be sure to snag it here: Bunny Latte

The image is colored with Copic markers and the little sentiment tag comes from the Doodlebug Cream & Sugar paper pad.   Other supplies used are listed below.

Thanks for stopping by!  

~Kristina

Feed me Seymour!

I'm probably totally dating myself with today's title but I don't mind at all!  It just seems to fit with my project today.😊  Have you checked out the new Craftin Desert Divas release that went live yesterday??  Have you done a little shopping??  There are so many wonderful new stamps and dies available.  If you haven't, hurry on over to the CDD store right now!  Both of the Design Teams have done a fabulous job of bringing you lots of creative inspiration too.

When I got my hands on the new Fox Villain digi stamp, I had an idea pop right into my head.  I knew just what I wanted to do.  The hard part is taking the idea out of my head and making it actually work on the card!

I'm not going to lie.  This card was a labor a love but I feel like I successfully translated my idea to paper!  I used the new Building Dies, Fox Villain digi and Unicorn Hero digi.  I had to make a prototype of the card to make sure I had everything sized just right and would all fit.  The grass and road I just free hand drew in with my copic markers.  I also took BG0000 and BG000 and created a sky with a few cloud details.

For the building, I used a couple of blue markers to color a white piece of paper and then die cut it out.  The fox and unicorn I had to size down a bit.  These too were colored with Copics.  For the pet plant (aka Seymour) I realized the plant stalk wasn't going to be long enough.  No problem.  I just cut it apart right at the leaves.  I held the top part in place and the bottom where I wanted it to be.  I used a Copic safe black marker and extended the stalk.  I colored it in to match the other two pieces.  I used another set of smaller leaves to cover the section where I joined them together.  It's like magic!

After that it was just a matter of putting all of the pieces in place.  I did pop up the pot on the plant and Unicorn Hero with foam tape to add just a little more detail.

Thanks for stopping by today!
~Kristina

Life is a ball

Well hello there.  Yep, I'm back with another project to share!  I did mention I was going to be keeping super busy for the next week or so.  I'm here to share some more inspiration featuring the awesome colors on this months Social Media/Mood board challenge!  Have you had a chance to participate yet?  You should!

My card today was colored with Inktense pencils and a watercolor brush.  Yep, that is another handmade plaid background.  I hope you aren't getting tired of them yet!  It features the adorable Have a Ball digi stamp.  After coloring the stamp, I went back with a fine tip black marker and traced around the entire image.  I love how it helps to make it pop!

I cut it out using the fabulous Inside Scalloped Circle dies.  I adhered the outer circle directly to the background but popped the kitty up on some foam tape.  Just to give it a little extra dimension.  The actual sentiment is included with the digi but I decided to hand write it because I wanted to emboss it. I wrote it with marker on vellum, let it dry for a bit and then went over it with a Versamark marker. I sprinkled on clear embossing powder and applied my heat tool.  I wrapped the vellum around the panel so I could hide the glue.

As a final touch I added Spectrum Noir glitter marker to the ball.  You know how I am with sparkle! Oh, and don't forget the gorgeous Shimmer sequins I added!

I'll see you again soon!

~Kristina

Sending Sunshine

Hello again my friends!  I am SO very excited about this next project I get to share with you.  I get to participate in the new releases this week!!  Woohoo!  It's not a normal part of my digi DT gig but she offered the chance to participate and I snagged it.  Yep, I did a little happy dance.  So without any further delay, here is my project to share!

My project features the new Building dies that will be available with the next release.  Guys, these are fantastic.  There are so many little details that you can mix and match!  Not to mention all of the great stitched details!!  I used the ink smooshing tecnique to color all of the pieces that I used.  I just couldn't be happeir with the way they turned out!

The sun die is from The Sky is the Limit dies, the tag is from Pocket Pieces Hi dies, the grass is from Outdoor Landscape 2 dies and the sentiment came from Summer Lovin and Simply Christmas.  I hope you like my project!  These dies will be available soon at Craftin Desert Divas.

~Kristina

Zooming by

Hi gang!  I'm back with another project.  This time I'm sharing the newest release from Jess Crafts Digitals!  Jess has been coming out with some of the cutest digi sets lately.  Seriously, check out her Etsy page here.

Today Jess is releasing Space Invaders-Alien and Astronaut!  It includes four really fun sentiments too!   I knew that these digi stamps needed to have a galaxy background of their very own.  How I love to make them with distress inks!  I get to make a mess that turns into something wonderful.  Not to mention adding all of those splatters.  Makes my crafting soul happy!  I used Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry, Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon and of course, Black Soot.  I created the first set of splatters with water mixed with Perfect Pearls.  The shimmer really makes me think of stars!  And the second set of splatters was made with diluted white paint.

While I set that aside to dry, I got to work on coloring the stamps.  I brought out my trusty Zig Clean Color real brush markers again.  I just love how easy they are to work with on Bristol paper.  The first time I actually colored them with Copics but just couldn't get the look I wanted.  I'm pretty sure it was user error though, not the Copics.  My Zigs never seem to disappoint.

I used the some of the same markers to color strips of paper to match and hand cut the little banners to go behind the sentiment.  I thought they definitely needed to be flying over a planet or a moon so I just created my own!  It was also colored with the Zig Clean Color markers.  I added Spectrum Noir Glitter marker to the craters in the moon, the alien, the astronauts mask and the rockets.  I did use foam tape to pop up the alien and the astronaut.  And there you have it!

Head over to Jess Crafts Digitals Etsy page to snag this awesome set for $1.  It's a special price for a limited time only.

Happy crafting!

~Kristina

Best Buddies

Hi everyone!  I know I haven't posted for a while but I'm back and this month is going to be a busy one! So I'm just going to dive right in with my project for today.

I'm so in love with this digi stamp and it's called My Best Buddy.  The cute armadillo with his snail pal riding on his back!  Oh the cuteness!  Picking this stamp was easy but now I needed a color theme.  Have you seen this month's challenge inspiration in the CDD Gallery Facebook group yet?  It's fabulous and just perfect for making some spring cards.  Here it is if you haven't seen it.

 

You have plenty of time to get started and make something fun!  You have a chance to win one of three prizes.  I promise you will have fun.

Back to my project.  Color scheme chosen.  Hmm, now what medium do I want to use??  I saw my tin of Inktense pencils were gathering dust.  A sure sign I needed to put them to use!  I colored the critters and grounded them with a little ground and sky.  I also went around the entire image with a black fine tip marker to make it pop out.  I cut it out using the brand new Inside Scalloped Circle dies. 

I'm still on a plaid kick so I dedided I would make my own plaid.  The twist this time was that I used my Inktense pencils!  They were already out on my table just begging to be used some more.  I drew the lines with the pencils and went over it with my water brush.  I just love how it turned out.  You can bet I'll be making more plaids with my Inktense pencils in the future!

I adhered the outer circle directly to the background but used foam tape to pop up the inside of the circle.  I think it gives a bit more interest.  I used the sentiment that comes with the My Best Buddy digital stamp.  I printed it out on kraft cardstock and used a die from the Flag Banners die set.  I swear I use the Flag Banners die set all the time!  I adhered a strip of watercolor paper down and then added the sentiment strip.  All done!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

~Kristina