The musings and offerings of a burgeoning greetings master

Friday, May 3, 2019

Mr Cardmaker Has a Two-fer Fer For (Fer?) Coffee Lover's Blog Hop



Back with TWO more cards!


I'm STILL making and playing along with the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop. This is my second post for today, and I have to say, I am awfully geeked about these two cards.


I made these--








Are these CUTE, or what?


So, in my last card, I stamped and die cut a huge amount of these cups from Lawn Fawn's Love You a Latte set, and I had these four left over.


I hate to waste stuff. I do.


I had been running across this teeny stamp set called A Little Sparkle from Lawn Fawn in my stash.

I found the oh-so-tiny fairies to be just adorable, and while I was contemplating what to do with these cups, I got the idea to see if they might fit on the sleeve portion of this stamp...








They fit! I got them to fit on these little spaces, and managed to get some twinklie thing in there, too..

I think they remind me subtly of the Starbucks mermaid....

I think the hard part was getting just the tipity tip of my copic markers in there to give them some color!


So, I made two four-bar card bases, and stenciled them with Lucky Clover Distress Oxide ink over two Tim Holtz Stencils. Super fast and easy!

I mounted the cups on foam tape and added them, and then stamped more twinklie star thingys above the cups, hoping they'd read like steam rising from the hot coffee.









Lastly, I stamped my sentiment, which comes from Cathy Zeilske of CZ Design. I thought it was perfect for right here.


I really love the way they turned out.

I hope you like them, too.


Stop by at the blog hop! So much to see!





Thanks so much for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard


#LawnFawn

#CZDesign

#Timholtz





Mr Cardmaker digs the 2019 Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

Well, today I am playing along with the Spring/Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop!


I haven't joined in a while, so I'm happy to play along this time!
I'm sharing a card I made after watching Julie Ebersole do a bokeh dots card, which got me bokeh-ing all the things for a day or so.

I made this--


This was so much fun to make. I stamped, die cut and colored a bunch of cups from Lawn Fawn's Love you a Latte set. I stamped them both on white card stock and kraft card stock, and I fussy cut the sleeves and glued them to each cup.

To do the bokeh dots, I dragged out circle stamps from about six different stamp sets in my stash. Now none of these circles are meant to stamp solid circles, like you see them here. They all have some sort of motif on them. 

How'd I get the solid circle image?
I turned the stamps OVER, and inked up the BACK of the stamp! 
Clever, right?
I stamped dots in all sorts of  coffee hued brown inks, then went back in with white pigment ink to soften things up.

After stamping and white heat-embossing my sentiment, I added a frame die cut, and then added my coffee cups. 
To finish things up, I added some wood veneer stars, and coated them with some clear shimmer pen.

This was so fun to make, and I'm so glad to share it with coffee lovers!


I hope you have a great time seeing all the fab entries in the hop!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 
All Best--
Richard

#lawnfawn
#averyelle




Thursday, January 31, 2019

Mr Cardmaker is Back to Guest with the 12 Kits of Occasions










It's a party! It's a parade! It's take-out Tuesday! It's a lovely, peaceful moment...

It's your friendly, neighborhood Mr. Cardmaker, back as a guest designer for the 12 Kits of Occasions, January 2019 edition!

My dear friend Jeanne Jachna has once again honored me by asking me to play along with her kit of this year, and oh yeahhhhhh…. What a kit it is.

There's die cuts. There's papers. There's embellishments and fibers. There's stamped images galore, and sentiments to go with them. Jeanne makes an amazing kit, I gotta say. Every. Dang. Time.

This January, ASIA baby. Asia. China and Japan, to be specific.

So, I made cards. Heck yeah, I did...

I made this--
 Now, Jeanne provided just about everything here, with the exception of the red circle, which I cut from a scrap in my stash.
I just love that detailed medallion cut from textured gold cardstock, especially paired with the similarly patterned dry embossed panel behind it.
I ink blended the die cut scene in blues that complimented the background, and adhered it with foam tape to add depth.
I have a real appreciation for the beauty and strength that comes from so many Japanese artworks, especially ones that draw its strength from simplicity. I struggled with the urge to add embellishments here, and in the end, I'm so glad I held back.

Next, I made this--

Here, I couldn't help but go to town with these gorgeous papers. Just stunning.
I loved these lantern die cuts so much. Behind the gold one, I added vellum colored with a bright yellow copic marker to create the idea of lamplight. It was tricky cutting, but well worth the effort.
The blue lantern got some gold ink on its edges, to help marry the two. I used the gold and blue twine included in the kit to "tie" the lanterns to the top of the card. The little wood piece reminded me of the signature blocks you see on many Japanese prints, so I used it here, along with some subtle embellishments.
I still say the paper is the star here, though...

Next, I made this--

 I couldn't stay away from all the gorgeous papers, and I'm sorry I covered up so many of the ones I used on this card. There's sushi hiding behind the take-out containers...
Those take-out containers!! With the perfect labeling...so smitten. I only wish I had some noodles to come pouring out of the one with the open flaps, and believe me, I tried to find something that worked properly. I'll figure that one out one day, because I may just have to have this stamp and die set for my very own.
The fortune cookies are so much fun. I cut slits in my panel, all the way through the papers and everything, in order to be able to slide the full sized fortunes in, leaving their little tails hanging out so you can grab them. I love that Jeanne cut the cookies from a matte finish gold cardstock, too.
I had gobs of fun making this one.

And FINALLY!! I took two days to make this one---

 It's a PARADE! A Pan-Asian Parade!
I actually used every image (but one) that was sent to me on this one #10 card. (That's the looooong one, that fits in a business sized envelope.)
Now, I am NOT the world's greatest Copic colorer, by any means, and I was rather daunted at the challenge at first, but I got through it, and probably learned a couple of things along the way, too.
Three things--
1. Those kid images are SMALL, yo. You best take to decaf for those babies...
2. It's amazing how mere dots can look like flowers.
3. I AM sort of proud of my Ninjas, I have to admit...

I drew in the lines on my background that make the "street" and did some bokeh-type dots to indicate a crowd. I did grab an old stamp from my stash of dollar bin stamps to make the banners on vellum with gold embossing just to add a more parade like look to my scene.

Oh yeah. Mr In-flight Ninja? On an action wobbler. 'Cause that's how I roll. (it makes him even more forward of the one behind him, too. Because, depth...)

And that's my collection for this 12 Kits of Occasions January 2019 edition!
I had, as ALWAYS, a wonderful time playing with this kit, and I can't wait to see what all the other crafters come up with. I invite you to check out the 12 Kits site, as well as the linked sites that will give you all kinds of wonderful eye candy and inspiration.

Special thanks to my very special friend Jeanne Jachna, for the invitation to play, and for coming up with yet another amazing kit.
Much love.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard