FOR THE COFFEE FREAK!

I admit it, I am a total Coffee nut.  I even have my own Coffee Machine - I just love it so much!  I recently helped a friends daughter (answering questions) with her studies and as a Thank you, she gave me a box of Robert Timms Coffee Bags.  Well, what can I say?  I was pretty thrilled, but the box was pretty ugly!  So I made one up to keep them in - much prettier!

This is a just a basic box template I made to fit the packets and once you understand how boxes go together you can make ANY size you want.  Such a handy thing to know though - think personalised gifts!

Of course, you can also decorate them any way you want.  Obviously, I didn't want to forget what was in this box!  I think the bold font gives it away, lol.  I also think the sentiment is soooooo TRUE!

Anyway, I have sat down and put THIS particular template into a basic tutorial for you and it is FREE!  I hope you make plenty of delightful boxes with it!

WELL WORN AND GRUNGY!

Is kinda how I am feeling at the moment!!  But I feel good enough to turn out this card using the new DSP "Well Worn".  Teamed with the "Grunge Rock" stamp set, I am really pleased with the lived in feel of this card!

I love the new Well Worn DSP, with all the earthy tones and images in the paper.  It really lends itself to the torn look too, which most of you know, is totally against my nature!  I also used twine as an accent, which I ran thorugh my ink pad to add colour.  Lots of sponging on the stamped sentiment and guitar images to tone down the stark Very Vanilla base.  This is going into my box of cards for when a "manly" card is needed!

Make sure you check back in a couple of days to see the latest project I am working on using this gorgeous new DSP.  I am hoping to have a tutorial for you too, since I haven't done one in a while!  But my lips are sealed for now, shhhhhh...............

HEY BABY - CAS

I haven't made a Baby card in so long!  To be honest, I had to keep it clean and simple because I really struggled to come up with an idea!  It happens to the best of us *grin*. 

I made this for a friend of a friend who have just adopted their first long awaited Baby.  How cool is that?!  In case you can't tell, it's a Girl!!  I thought we would start things off right with a bit of bling and a pretty wee bow - what more could a Girl want - right?!

ALL WRAPPED UP

I have been a little slack in the posting department, but I have been working very hard towards a Launch workshop I am holding today.  It really has been nose to the grindstone!  I have been playing with new product (and old) so I could showcase gorgeous samples to inspire. 

This wee box is made with the Big Shot Mini Milk Carton Die.  Instead of making a standard Milk carton, I have cut two die templates, cut one side off each and put together to form this cute hexagonal Gift Box.  Teamed with the new Mocha Morning DSP and the fabulous lace Ribbon Border Punch, it really makes an elegant little gift box.  Of course, Pearls are elegant too and I have added one to each flower centre.

There are soooo many new and beautiful products in the 2011/2012 Stampin' Up! catalogue, along with all of our old favourites.  The Hostess benefit scheme has also changed and is so much more flexible now, allowing you to receive both FREE and heavily discounted product.  If you haven't got a copy yet, why not contact me today and order one?  Better yet, book a workshop with me and get it for FREE!

ONE LUMP OR TWO?

Anyone for Tea?  I have seen some gorgeous Tea Caddy's during my blog travels recently, and being a good Tea and Coffee drinker myself, wanted one I could put on my bench or give as a gift.  In the end, I had to play around myself to whip up this little beauty - but I love how this came together.

I have used the glorious new Designer Paper called Mocha Morning and the colours of the Caddy itself are Soft Suede and Crumb Cake.  I have also used lots of subtle sponging to add a more vintage feel to the stark DSP.
While I have a fabulous stamp set called "Morning Sip", the images were a little small for my needs, so I drew my own teabag for the front panel.  I put the bag and tag together with twine and popped them on the front panel with dimensionals.

I also wanted to be able to refill this when the last teabag is used, so I added a flip top lid!

I can't wait to make some more of these cuties as something "extra" for friends and family at Christmas.  Now I want to make some in different sizes too that I can take to my monthly Craft fair.  I know I certainly can't resist a good Cuppa!

JAI #84

This week at JUST ADD INK we have a super colour challenge for you - Just Add White and one other colour!

Whether you want to use white as a base, or colour as a base - anything goes!  Cant wait to see what you come up with.

I choose Gold and White.  I don't have a lot of Wedding Cards in my stash, so my main aim was to add to that!  I recently got the Gold Card Stock from Stampin' Up!an it is a grogeous!  It isn't overly shiney but has such a lovely iridescence about it.  Of course I also heat embossed the sentiment with gold, just to make it really "pop".  I also gently sponged Champagne Shimmer Paint over the dry embossing for a bit of glitx and colour.  

I hope you will pop by JUST ADD INK this week and join in with this simple (but challenging!) challenge.  Head over there now to see what the rest of the Deisgn Team have been doing!

ITUNES INSPIRED 21ST BIRTHDAY

What kind of 21st Birthday card do you make for a tattooed Rock Chick celebrating her birthday?!  That was the challenge presented to me recently.  Harder yet, what kind of present do you get?!!  My darling Husband came up with the idea of the Itunes card voucher and picked one up to put in her card.

As soon as I saw the voucher, I knew I had to recreate the artwork using my brayer and sponges.  This is the end result:

This turned out to be such an awesome card to do and I really didn't want to give it away!
To achieve these reuslts, I used Whisper White as my artwork base.  I stamped the Extreme Guitar in Versamark, then "rock n rolled" it in Rich Razzleberry and Elegant Eggplant, and heat embossed using Clear embossing powder.  I randomly sponged the background in Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Marina Mist.  Using my trusy post-it-notes, I then masked off sections and sponged again in marina Mist to create the background sections.  of course, I also carried this over to the inside of the card too!

Using the same method of sponging I described above, I just colour one corner of the card in colour, I also used my music wheel and Pool Prty ink to create a light mosaic of music (which is hard to see here) under the birthday sentiment.  I also "rock n rolled" the Grunge Rock guitar in the corner, omitting the embossing.  As it turns out, the guitar was a great choice as that was the gift her family got her for her 21st!

"D" IS FOR DAD!

It is Fathers Day this Sunday and luckily, my Dad's card has arrived safely.  I hope the Lotto ticket inside is as lucky!  Just remember who gave it to you if it wins Dad!

This card came together for Dad really quickly.   My Dad doesn't do sentiment too well, so I definietly didn't want anything soppy.  Quick, simple and to the point, is what my Dad appreciates.  I also included artwork on the inside, but the photo didnt turn out at all well, so I can't show you.  Note to self:  Check photo's BEFORE sending card away!

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, French Foliage
Card Stock:  Early Espresso, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Inks:  Early Espresso, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede
Accessories: Big Shot, Timeless Type Alpha Die, Post-it-note (for masking) Stamp-a-ma-jig, Brayer, Sponges, Jumbo Brads