Mr Cardmaker Loves Coffee on an Atomic Level

There's something about things from the Atomic Age that I find really appealing. I love the shapes, the lines, the ordered randomness of it all.

I made this card, and I liked it so much, I made a replica of it for my dad's Father's Day card.

But this is the original.

I made this--

I loaded this thing UP! 

I used Tim Holtz's Atomic Elements dies, as well as letter dies from Momenta and stamps from CASual Fridays Exclamations, which I think is now unavailable.

First, I stamped jacks images on black cardstock, and heat embossed them in clear. Now I had a base to work on.

I knew I wanted to do rainbow letters, so I diecut them from colored cardstock, and inked blended them to have deeper colors on the bottoms of each letter.

I then arranged them with the dies so I could see how I wanted to put things together--

Like so--

When I was happy with my arrangement, I cut everything out from gold, white, and silver glitter cardstock. With all those bright colors, the metallic papers would really act as neutrals, so no fighting!

So, here's my initial arrangement with pieces cut--

The next thing was to decide where everything lay in relationship to one another--what was getting popped up? What was behind what? 

I have been really enjoying doing more intricate cards here and there lately, and I had a lot of fun with the ins and outs of this one.  I found I needed a few extra pieces to fill in, and I had no lack of elements to pick from in this die set.

I also wanted a sub sentiment here--the letters looked incomplete, even with all the madness going on, so I added my FAVORITE sentiment stamp. That "squeal" never fails to make me happy, and it just fit in there perfectly!

And so, I got this!

This was a good few hours work, mostly in the decision making area. I'm so happy to share it with you for my final guest designer spot for Coffee Loving Cardmakers! 

Thanks so much to Amy Tsuruta for asking me to guest! I had a blast, and I am looking forward to seeing what August's guest designer comes up with.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Be well, and be safe!

All Best--

Richard

Mr Cardmaker finds Coffee to be a Great Substitute for...well, ANYTHING, Really

Week FOUR of my guest designer spot at Coffee Loving Cardmakers! I'm having a great time, and I hope you're having fun, too! 

For this week, I made this--

I love these warm colors, and they fit the message just perfectly. I love substituting images for letters, and a steaming coffee cup says "hot" just perfectly. I bet if I wanted to say "cool" instead, I could substitute a couple of popsicles for the Os. How fun would THAT be? So fun, and really effective.

I pulled the sentiment stamps from a Concord & 9th stamp set. The glittered letters are cut with Momenta dies, and the coffee cup die is from Li'l Inker Designs, which has sadly closed up shop.

This cup die is my go to.

 Here, I pulled out my ancient paper crimper, and gave the die cut cup some texture. If you've been crafting for some years, you probably have a crimper collecting dust somewhere. I will often crimp a panel of cardstock to use as padding for a heavily embellished card to protect it in the mail, but other than that, this may be the first project to see a crimper in many a year. I was happy to find a use for the thing!

The stencil is from Tim Holtz, and I love it. Tim's stencils are more scaled to use on a tag, but because these circles are so rough around the edges, it's super easy to extend to bigger cardstock panels, like I did here. Man, I have really become quite the fan of stencils lately. They're inexpensive, and really versatile.

Putting the card together was quick and easy, until I got to the stamped sentiment strips. I did a bit of experimentation, and I was happy with what I finally landed on.

This wasn't quite right. Nothing else on the card was black, and it seemed just wrong to me.

This was closer, but just not quite there.

I finally found my answer.

I hope you agree with me!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Now, go dig out your crimper!

All Best--

Richard

Mr Cardmaker Must Be Drinking that Kona Coffee, or Something...

Wow, it's already week three of my guest designer spot at Coffeeloving Card Makers! I'm glad there are FIVE Fridays in July, because I'm having a great time!

My first decision of the day, after deciding whether or not to just stay in the dang bed, is to choose my coffee cup. I usually go for the biggest one available, whichever that may be, depending on the dishwasher has clean or dirty dishes in it.

Well, for this weeks card, I wanted a BIG cup.

I made this--

I get a serious Hawaii vibe from this card. The background was done with an inkpad dragging technique, which was then amplified with lots of spatters and a bit of stamping. The colors of the panel, plus the brown of the kraft card front really says Hawaii or Polynesia to me.

This running boy image is from Waffle Flower Crafts, and I could not love this stamp set more. Kids hightailing it to the beach? Yessir! 

My kid is hightailing it to the coffee, but, I get the same feeling for both things; don't you?

This guy is actually waving a shirt or towel in the stamp, but a bit of careful snipping got rid of that. I also took a fine line pen, and drew him in a shirt. I mean, it's bad enough he's losing his dang shoe...

 

Getting rid of his shirt from his hand allowed me to give him an ENORMOUS coffee mug. I decorated it with a palm frond image from Stampin' Up, and used that same stamp to give my card front some tropical flair.

The white heat embossed sentiment is from Honey Bee Stamps. I added that, and some white Nuvo drops, and this guy was all set!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope I gave you a bit of inspiration today.

Be safe, and be well.

All Best-

Richard

Mr Cardmaker Likes a FANCY Coffee Card

I'm back with my second week of guest designing for Coffeeloving Card Makers! So happy to be back, and I have another card to share with you

Don’t you love a hot, steamy cup of coffee? Of course you do! Simple perfection, right? But, sometimes, isn’t something fancier a nice treat? Something with foam, or some kind of flavor, or even CHOCOLATE??? Oh, yeahhhhhh…

Well, I thought this week's card would live in that world, and I went for some luscious flowers from The Greetery. The Print Shop: Fresh Florals set comes with both stamps AND stencils, and the effect you can create with these things is just stunning.

I made this—

I reached for my Distresss Oxide inks and Unicorn white pigment ink to work on this kraft cardstock, in order to keep as much vibrancy and true color as possible. Distress Oxide inks are both dye AND pigment ink hybrids, so you can definitely get the opaque qualities of pigment ink with the vibrancy of dye inks. For instance, I created the pink petals by stamping white ink on top of the red oxide ink. On a light cardstock with dye inks, the petals in the back would be lighter, with a darker shade stamped on top of it.

My sentiments, both stamped and die cut, are from Honeybee Stamps. I cut the black letters from cardstock that was heated with clear embossing powder before cutting. I felt that trying to wrangle teensy letters like that was just not going to be as successful. I think this way worked out just fine!

The coffee cup die is from the sadly closed Li’l Inker Designs. Coffee cup dies are more than plentiful, though, so finding something to work for you should be easy.

A sprinkling of some clear sequins finishes me off!

I think someone should make coffee cups in this floral pattern. I’m thinking it’d get me into the coffee shop a little more often. Not that I need an excuse, mind you…

Thanks so much for stopping by. See you next week!

All Best—

Richard

 

Mr Cardmaker Loves Guesting (Almost) as Much as He Loves Coffee!

I'm so happy to be guesting this month for Coffee Loving Cardmakers! I was so thrilled to be asked, I sat down and did all month's worth of cards in just a few days! I'm caffeined up, and ready to fly! Thanks so much for stopping in to have a look.

For my first week, I'm sharing this card--

I only had about ten coffee stamps and die sets, so of COURSE, I had to order more in order to do this guest spot! I went to Taylored Expressions and bought the Koffee Time Stamp and Die combo. This set has great sentiments and a die set that builds a KEURIG machine! (well, it's a one-cup brewer, but I kinda say Keurig in the way I say Kleenex, or Band-aid...)

I don't know about you, but my Keurig is a lifeline at about three o'clock every day.  And, sometimes 4. And, sometimes at 11am...Whenever the pot runs out. You know what I'm saying...

Many dies involved! I have to admit, I found it just a touch tricky for me, especially since I had to go search the web to get some instructions, but I persevered and finally got where I needed to be. I guess I'm just a bit slow on the uptake. I have it down, now...

I just think this thing is too stinking cute. This machine. Cute. A machine is cute. Yeah, I said it...

When it came time to design the card, I decided that my Keurig would be one of the things that had to come with me to a desert island, and so the idea of a tropical setting came to mind. I mean, besides the chocolate, and a couple of dozen other earthly delights, you gotta have the coffee. And electricity, I guess...

 

I pulled out some juicy colors and some tropical stamps and dies from Stampin' Up, and got busy.

I liked the sentiment here, because I figured any Monday on a tropical island was BOUND to be short, right?

I also had to hunt through my stash to find a tiny puff of steam to add to my ombre coffee mug. I mean, that stuff comes out HOT, right??

So, thanks so much to Coffee Lovers Cardmakers for having me come onboard this month. I have lots more to share, so come back next Friday!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

Mr Cardmaker Loves His Crafty Friends and the 12 Kits of Occasions

Well, my wonderful Jeanne Jachna asked me once again to come and play with the 12 Kits of Occasions crew, and we're paying tribute to our crafty friends! I'm always so excited and happy to be asked, and I had a great time creating some fun things with Jeanne's clever kit.

I made this--

Jeanne's kit included some beautiful papers, die cuts and sentiments, as well as some bling.

I was excited to dive into some of the colors of the papers, because they're colors I don't reach for that often, and I was excited to do some stretching.

This card just called out for some hysteria, in spite of the call for calm. I mean, just look at any crafter's desk after a craft session. Sure looks like craziness at my house...

I even had to go for the action wobblers!

So fun, right? I love those things. I especially love that the smoosh down enough to make it easy to mail. Anything to save a stamp...

Next, I made this--

This Pure Innocence girl from MFT Stamps is so cute, flexing her creative muscles. I paired it with this background stamp, thinking I'd be placing her outside the frame and painting what's inside, but I got a wild hair and switched things up, mostly thanks to the sentiment.

You color my WORLD, not my picture...get it?? anyway, I found it amusing...

Next, I made this--

I love that background paper; I had to use it! And, with so much color going on, I think it really suits here.

The white panel is actually a tag die cut. After coloring up and piling my rainbow paintbrushes in the circle, I found I could hide the hole at the top of the panel with some clever placement. I was happy to get to do this, because I didn't really have to add strings or ribbons here.

I love the images of the paint tubes, especially the oozing one. But guess what?

See the blob on the bottom right?

well, I put the card together without that, and I kinda felt that I had left myself a weird hole at the bottom of the panel. So I DREW myself a blob! By HAND! It seemed so bizarre an idea to made an image myself...but a few copics, and a .05 Micron pen, and I was in business! I figure anybody can draw a blob, for Pete's sake...

So, there you go.

Finally, I made this--

This little monkey ( or at my house, leetle minkee) was a leftover from the first card, and he was too cute to leave behind. Happily, the kit had one more tag die, and I popped this guy up on an action Wobbler, too! (Sorry, no video for this one...)

The fact that he was holding that glue bottle in an oh-so-obviously threatening way (LOL) led me to the sentiment. 

I just get such a big smile from this one!

So, that's my collection. I have to say THANK YOU once again to sweet Jeanne for asking me to play along.  PLEASE go to the 12 Kits of Occasions site to see all the smart and beautiful things the team has come up with. I promise it'll spark some creativity of your own...

Thanks so much for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

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

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

Mr Cardmaker Puts it Into Reverse

Time again to throw my hat CARD in for the Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge. 

This week's challenge is #325 Reverse Florals. This basically means your florals are white or mostly white, and the emphasis goes to the leaves and other greenery.

I made this--

I just got these fabulous Floral Squares dies from Pinkfresh Studio, and I wanted to use them-well, at least one... I did manage to use two PTI sets in my card--Funky Florals for the sentiment, and Rosie Posie for my stamped/diecut leaves. I also snuck some small leaf diecuts from Spellbinders in there, too..

When I was doing the inlay of the white frame and yellow surrounding pieces, I was a bit worried about all the yellow, since we were charged with keeping our flowers white. 

However, I quieted my worries by popping up some extra diecut petals on my flower. Mischief  managed!

I also have a pretty piece of floral print vellum in there as one of the layers, but the design didn't really photograph. Wop, wop...

Another view, showing off more of the dimension--

That YELLOW cardstock from Fun Stampers' Journey is such a juicy shade. Totally love it! It sort of reads a bit orange here, but it really is YELLOW. Or should I say yell-OW!! (oh, the puns...)

Now I'm off to link up my project, before I totally forget AGAIN...

Go make something!!

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

Mr Cardmaker Remembers...

Well, last week I did it again, and I forgot to post my card for the MFT sketch challenge. I've done this before, a few too many times to mention. Tsk...

Anyway this week I am on top of things, and I made and I'm posting my card!

I made this -

Wow, simpler is definitely better sometimes. I am using "A Phone Call Away" from the MFT Pure Innocence line. I love these little girls soooooo much...

So, here's the sketch--

Well, now you have to tilt your head to the right to see how my card fits...Go ahead. I'll wait...
See? You get this--

So glad I remembered to post this week!

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

Mr Cardmaker Takes to the Skies

Well, these challenges really seem to have gotten hold of me, and if they get me to do some long-forgotten blogging, then so be it. It ALSO gets me to actually READ some blog posts from other, really fantastic bloggers, so even better!

Today I am playing along with Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge. Cascading diecuts is the challenge this week, and I have gone to the skies with Up Up and Away stamps and dies.

I made this--

I also slid in my cloud dies from Amuse Studio, which I used to both cut and emboss clouds into my background. A bit of sponged white pigment ink on the blue background helps to give some depth and realism.

I kept a pretty tight color pallet here; juicy warm colors against the cool blue sky. What reads as yellow in my photos is actually a bright lime--so much for my camera this time...

I really had fun making the sentiment fit onto my cloud die cuts--of course the masking part took me several tries, since I couldn't seem to remember to take the TAPE off of my stamp before stamping.

I know you know to what I'm referring, if you've ever tried to mask a sentiment stamp. Sometimes, I just thing stamp surgery is much easier...

In really GOOD news, I WAS able to capture my glitter pen in action! Well, at least, mostly...

See? I do love my sparkle, I have to say. Oh, and that green color is more evident here, too...
As you can see, lots of layers with lots of foam adhesive creating levels of interest.

I want to point out the little tiny beige mat under the focal image. I really like that it gives it a bit of gravitas, and gives, especially with that hot pink in there, the feeling that this card could as easily be for a man as for a woman or child of either sex.

Lots of fun with this card! Looking forward to the weeks ahead.

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

Mr Cardmaker loves the Concept of Coffee

Well, it's been awhile since I played along with the Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop, and I finally was able to put some time and thought into it.
So, I sat down at my crafting table, and thought and thought, and finally came up with this mad little idea.
I pulled out my Altenew coffee stamps, and stared at them for a while. They weren't speaking to me. So I pulled out a FLORAL set, and LIGHTBULB!
I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to accomplish what my mind's eye saw, but I decided to go for it and see what happens.
I had a CONCEPT.

I made this -

See? CONCEPTUAL.

THE CONCEPT PART!

So, in the real world, when we make small mistakes on our projects, we tend to want to do some creative covering on these things. Well, I've decided to go to the nth degree on this idea, and make a huge mistake/design opportunity on a pretty panel. There would be no covering that up. But I decided that I would make it look like someone had tried to cover up a big mistake in the way that you would cover up a minor mistake, but realizing, hey, this is COFFEE, dammit, so WHY am I covering this up?

And so, INSTEAD, we DECORATE, not disguise. Get it? Because it's COFFEE. 

AIN'T NOTHING WRONG WITH COFFEE. 

NEVER.

Aaaaaaand, pretty.

The 2018 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Bloghop. Play along, or just go see all the good stuff. Because, COFFEE.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Phones It In

I have recently become interested in doing some of the challenge blogs, and today I am playing with My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge. The sketch for this week looks like this -

Looks like a simple enough sketch to follow, and the possibilities seem pretty much endless. 

I dove in with some of the Pure Innocence line, and I came up with this -

I've really been pulled toward deep blues and greens lately, and I don't think I disappointed myself here. I used a stamp from Amuse Studio which created the dots, and I die cut a circle out of that panel. I then went to a smaller circle die, and cut out a map paper from Martha Stewart crafts. There's a pretty silver outline on the states in this paper. Photos do it no justice...

I then layered my image, my "hello" die cut (which is layered about four thick), and the sentiment on the velum, which was heat embossed with white embossing powder. 

The center circle is popped up on foam, as is the panel around it, so it leaves an interesting channel between the two. 

All in all it's pretty simple, but I think the sentiment on the velum gives it a really nice point of interest. 

Simple seems to be where I am staying these days. I like it. 

I had a lot of fun playing along with this challenge; you should try it too! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 All best - 

Richard