Today is....National Coffee Day.....with Graciellie Design and Unity Stamp

Hello everyone!!  Yes, it's true.  Today is National Coffee Day.  Not that I need any special day to celebrate coffee since I drink it daily...several times a day, in fact.  But, since today is an extra special coffee day, I made a card....coffee themed. And I am drinking some of the best coffee in Brasil by Melita!  YUM! 

I started with a digi stamp called Stay Strong that I recently purchased from Gracielle Designs on Etsy.  If you do not like digi stamps, you can also buy this set as a rubber stamp {HERE} at Unity Stamps. 

I printed a full A4 sheet (cuz I will use these).  Then I had my Scan N Cut cut some of the cups out.

  

Next, I printed out one of the sentiments and die cut it with my stitched rectangle die.    I also stamped the flower image from Blossomy Condolences (Unity Stamp) and had my Scan N Cut cut it out.

I colored in the cup and the flowers with a variety of BIC Markers.

Next, I made a top folding A2 card with white cardstock and adhered a piece of designer paper to the front.  Then I adhered the piece with the sentiment to my card front and the cup next to the sentiment.

Next, I put some foam tape behind the flowers and adhered this so they were coming out of the cup.

For the final part, I applied some Stickles on some of the flowers and the heart in the center of the cup and called it a day!

Done!!  I love mixing and matching up different stamps or sets and this cup acts as the perfect vase for the flowers.  Perfect for a coffee lover like me!!  LOL  I hope you enjoyed this quick post.  Feel free to leave a comment below and, as always - 

Hugs from Brasil - 

Michael 

Travel Mini Album With Jen Of Eve Designs and Paper Phenomenon

Hi everyone!  I am always posting my cards, which I love to do, but I also love to make mini albums. I've always loved taking photos.  And I miss going to a Kodak store to pick up my package of photos that I took with my roll of film.  Remember an actual roll of film??  LOL 

Nowadays we keep all of our memories on a cell phone, Instagram, or Facebook and people have forgotten what it's like to sit down and turn the pages of an album and look at an actual photo. 

Hence the reason I love to make mini albums. 

For this album, I used the Paper Dream printable template from Jen Of Eve Designs along with a digital paper pad from Paper Phenomenon called Flight 2715.

Here is the cover of the book - 

And here are some of the pages inside the book - 

I made a video of the book, which you can watch {HERE} over on my YouTube Channel.  I hope you enjoy it.  I'd love to know so please leave me a comment below (or on my channel). 

I'm working on some ideas for video tutorials for books and cards too.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today and, as always - 

Hugs from Brasil - 

Michael

"Seasonings Greetings" Shaker Card With Unity Stamp

Hello everyone.  Today's card has been in my head for weeks and I finally found the time to make it. I did some fine tuning as I made the card and it actually came out better in the end than it was in my head.  Has this ever happened to you? And I have to thank my friend Debra for the sentiment idea.  I was going to use "Seasons Greetings" but then she suggested "Seasonings Greetings", which I love even more, and that's what I went with in the end!   So, thanks Deb!! 

Here's how I made this card - 

1.  I prepared the sentiment "SEASONINGS GREETINGS" on the computer and printed two of them out on A4 white cardstock. 

2.  I positioned the stitched rectangle die over the sentiment, adhered it with some washi tape, trimmed the cardstock, and die cut it with my Big Shot.  (I'm sure there is an easier way with software but I do not know how to do this.  So, if you do, please let me know in the comments and I will love you forever!!  LOL)

3.  I placed one of the card fronts in my Misti Stamping Tool and stamped the salt and pepper shakers from What's Shakin' (Unity Stamps) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. 

4.  I placed the card front in my Scan N Cut and had the machine cut the two images out with a .8 border.

5.  This next part is important to make THIS shaker card. I wanted the images of the salt and pepper shakers to be perfectly placed under the acetate.  So, before I adhered the acetate, I cut another piece of white cardstock to the same size - 4" x 5.25", placed it on the Misti Stamping Tool again and stamped the images.  Then I trimmed 1/8" off each side.  (This will all make sense soon.)

6.  I made a top folding A2 card base of white cardstock and adhered a piece of Christmas decorative paper to the front.

I also adhered a piece of acetate to the back of the stitched rectangle piece with the images cut out of it.  Then I adhered foam tape to the back.  

You should have at this point - your card base with the decorative paper, the piece of white cardstock with the images stamped on the front, and the stitched rectangle piece with the acetate and the foam tape on the back.

7.  Next, I colored the images with a silver gelly roll pen and a red and green Ultra Fine Tip Sharpie markers and glued it to the center of my card front.  This is why I trimmed 1/8" off each side - so it would fit nicely under the final piece.

8.  Next, I put a small amount of salt over one image and some pepper over the other, removed the tape backing from the foam tape, and adhered this over the images.

Here is the final card.  I love how, when the card is standing up, it looks like the shakers are made of glass and have some salt and pepper in the bottom.

I hope you enjoyed this card and the idea.  Please let me know by leaving a comment below.  I'll be back soon with another project.  Thanks for stopping by the blog today and, until next time - 

Hugs from Brasil - 

Michael  

If You Give A Crafter A Cookie Challenge No. 102 - Catch Your Dreams with Little Blue Button

Hello everyone!!  This week was super busy.  Our town held their annual Festival of Immigrants - Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights - and we went each night to take photos and hang out with our friends.  It was a lot of fun but man, I am tired.  And yesterday we went back to Amparo, a town about an hour away, for a private tour of the main Cathedral in town.  A beautiful church and I'll try to have some photos later in the week.  

Last week I was the winner on the If You Give A Crafter A Cookie Challenge Blog (IYGACACCB).  I won 4 digi stamps from Bugaboo Stamps for my "Fintastic" card. 

This week on the IYGACACCB it's their 4th Anniversary and their 102nd Challenge, which is an "anything goes" challenge, and I decided to join them again using a "dream catcher" image I recently purchased from Little Blue Button.  

Other than the coloring part, this is a super easy card to make!!

I started with a top folding A2 card to which I adhered a piece of decorative scrap paper.  I went with a dark wood look because I wanted the colors in the dream catcher to pop.  I also printed one of the images, cut it out, and colored it with a variety of BIC Ultra Fine Tip Markers.

  

I printed the words CATCH, YOUR, and DREAMS using a label font and cut them out leaving a slight border.   

I adhered the image to the card front and then adhered the words under the image using pop dots. I glued some crystals to the dream catcher and then applied some yellow Stickles to the center of the dream catcher.

Done!

Like I said, super easy.  I really love how this card came out.  I will have a few more cards this week using more images from Little Blue Button so I hope you will stop back.  

I'd love to know what you think of the card and this image.  And, as always, until next time - 

Hugs from Brasil - 

Michael