The Coffee Oasis Blog Hop

BLOG HOP PAGE STARTS HERE: http://katscrappinessblog.com/charity-blog-hop/

Hello, crafters!  Cynthia here with a very special blog, dedicated to raising money for an extremely worthy cause.  It's easy to overlook the daily blessings we all have, and take those blessings for granted.  Now is our chance to spread some of the love to our greatest resource:  our children!  They are all, indeed, our future.  Please consider making a donation to The Coffee Oasis, as well as joining this hop with your own blog post.  There are lots of opportunities to win a wonderful prize, and your participation will also spread awareness about this amazing charity.

My winter-themed card features several Kat Scrappiness products, both new and old.  I used the brand new Stitched Winter Swirl Backdrop Die, the "Snowflake Kisses" Brush Script Word Die, and the new Dark Blue Jewels.  Let's take an in-depth look at the steps used to make this card.

My first step was cutting the backdrop die.  I decided on this pretty dark blue card stock, which I thought would be a striking contrast for the white details I will be adding.  This intricately patterned die is extremely easy to cut out, as the pattern is made of only tiny stitched lines - no fussing with tiny pieces!  Thank you, Kat Scrappiness! 

To accentuate all of the lovely details, I used my white gel pen to outline/fill in the pattern over the entire panel.  This is fairly easy to do, and only takes a bit of patience.  To add just the right touch of bling, I used the Dark Blue Jewels to outline the swirls at the top right and bottom left of the panel.  I knew that I would be adding my word die to the center of the panel, but depending on your own design you could add more jewels to yours.

I then used the adorable "Snowflake Kisses" Die to cut my sentiment out of white card stock.  I decided to do one of my favorite design tricks:  layering dies to create dimension.  Instead of trying to add tiny pieces of foam tape to the backside of the lettering, I simply cut out three word dies and glued them together.  This gave me a sentiment that was much thicker, almost like a chipboard piece. You could add even more layers to make your own dies as thick as you'd like them 😊 

When I first laid my sentiment directly on the snowflake panel, the background actually made the words a little harder to read than I liked.  To solve this I cut a rectangular piece of vellum that was large enough to surround the die, then added a narrow rectangular frame in white.  I was very careful to use tiny dots of paste adhesive to add the pieces to the vellum - you don't want to get any glue smears on it, trust me!

This is how the sentiment turned out.  You can still see the design of the background, but it's been muted by the vellum to let the words stand out.  The rectangular frame also focuses your attention to the words.  You can also see that by layering my dies there is a shadow beneath them, again helping to draw your attention to them.  I know it's hard to describe, but all of these subtle little things really do help your card to be the best it can be.  Trust me, I'm a Design Team Member 😄

And that completes my card project!  I hope that you enjoyed following along with me, and that I managed to explain my steps.  Please be sure to head over to the Kat Scrappiness shop and grab these items for yourself - I've included a shopping link for you down below.  By shopping with a small, independent business owner you are helping to support a hard-working woman with a deep passion for crafting and creation, and your business is greatly appreciated.  Please also be sure to use my coupon code "CYNTHIA10" to receive 10% off your entire purchase, including the new releases.  Take care of yourselves, and I will be back later in the month with more crafty goodness 💖

Kat Scrappiness website

The Coffee Oasis donations

My YouTube channel

Halloween Scene Card for Kat Scrappiness

Good morning, all!  Halloween is only a few days away, and I am getting more and more excited.  I can't wait to see all of their kids and their costumes, and to hand out a bunch of candy.

I have a Kat Scrappiness Design Team project video to share with you (the link is down below this post.)  In it, I use the Crafters Essentials FALL die set and the Toil & Trouble Layered stamp set.  I used some Distress Oxide inks to color in my night sky, which is always so much fun to do.  Please watch the video to see all the steps and details.  Don't forget to click "Like" and subscribe to my channel if you haven't already.

Thank you, and have an awesome day!

YouTube Video link

Shopping link to Kat Scrappiness

Happiness Is Handmade Card

Hello again, crafters!  I hope that you're all having a lovely day out there.  We are still experiencing heavy smoke and traces of ash with all of the wildfires north of us, so we're staying inside with the air conditioning on.  I feel terrible for the victims of the fires, of course.  At least we only have minor health concerns to deal with!

Turning to a happier subject, I posted my Kat Scrappiness Design Team project over on the KS blog today.  Please follow the link below to read the details.  I'm really proud of the stamping and coloring on this background - I love it when a design idea works out!  Here's a pic of the finished card:

To shop for the "Crafters Gonna Craft" stamp set, the Stitched Diagonal Backdrop die, or the White Jewels I used, follow this shopping link to get to the store:  Kat Scrappiness website

Don't forget to use my discount code "CYNTHIA10" to receive 10% off your entire order!

MY Kat Scrappiness Design Team BLOG POST

Floral Card with Kat Scrappiness Crafters Essentials 1

Hello again, crafters!  Thanks for joining me today for a look at a card project I recently made using the new "Crafters Essentials 1" from Kat Scrappiness.  This amazing set of dies comes with 13 different pieces to mix and match to your heart's content.  There are a ton of possible designs you could make with these dies, and I can tell that I will be reaching for these again and again in my craft room.  Let's get into some details of my card design.

I decided to use the three-window rectangle die from the set to be my main element.  I cut it out of Cotton Candy card stock and kept the three little window pieces.  I will use one of them for my sentiment, and save the other two for future projects.  I try to never throw away useful scraps - this can be an expensive hobby, and I try to make use of every scrap I have!

For my papers I chose two different patterns from the Penny Black "Beau Jardins" 6x6 pad.  The leaf paper will be my background, and I cut the multi-flower paper in a strip to fit behind my pink frame.  You could also cut your paper with the frame and then fit the pieces in like a puzzle, which would give you a seamless look.

Since I love adding ribbons to my cards, I chose this pretty Lemon Drop grosgrain ribbon from my stash (I'm sorry, it's not longer available for sale.)  Because it's a bit thick, I decided to skip tying a bow and used a second little piece of ribbon to tie a simple knot.  I also clipped the ribbon ends at an angle to finish them off.

Once I attached everything to my card front, I added the sentiment piece with some foam tape.  I liked the dimension, especially since the ribbon has some too.  The sentiment (from a Laurel Burch stamp set) was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black ink and heat set with Ranger's Clear embossing powder.  As a final embellishment, I used some sequins from the "Spring Leaves" mix and scattered a bit of the "3mm Pink Heart Confetti" across my card front.  Both of these are from Kat Scrappiness, and I will have all the links down below this post.

Here is my card all finished!  It really was quite simple, and a great way to use some pretty patterned papers.  If you would like to purchase this wonderful set of dies, here is the shopping link to the Kat Scrappiness shop:  KatScrappiness.com   Don't forget to use the discount code "CYNTHIA10" during checkout to receive 10% off your entire order.  Thank you for joining me today, and I will see you all soon.

SHOPPING:

• Crafters Essentials 1 die set from Kat Scrappiness
• Cotton Candy card stock from My Favorite Things
• Penny Black "Beau Jardin" 6x6 paper pad
• VersaFine Onyx Black ink
• Ranger Clear embossing powder
• "Springs Leaves" sequin mix from Kat Scrappiness
• "3mm Pink Heart Confetti" mix from Kat Scrappiness
• Laurel Burch "Fish Wishes" stamp set

Watercolor Wildflowers Card

Hello, crafters!  Thank you for joining me today for a super-easy watercolor card project.  I know when watercoloring on cards first became popular, I really hesitated because I felt like it was for "serious artists only."  But please let me assure you that this is a technique anyone can do!  All you need is some watercolor paper, water based inks of your choice (today I used Distress Inks), and the Everyday Brush Strokes stamp set.  Let's get started!

I wanted to create a unique shape for my focal piece, so I decided to use my Kat Scrappiness Fancy Scalloped Stitched Border dies to cut along both the top and bottom of my watercolor paper.  I wanted to cut the piece first and then stamp so that I could get my placement just right.

Since I was thinking of a field of wildflowers, I selected a pretty green and a blue ink for my stamping.  Using one of the Brush Stroke stamps, I applied both colors of ink to it and then spritzed it lightly with my Mini Mister bottle.  You just want the ink to bead up a bit, not dribble off the stamp.

I stamped the image all across the bottom half of my watercolor paper piece, double-inking and spritzing the stamp each time until I had filled my paper.  I set it aside to dry completely, although you can speed up the process by using a heat tool.  To give my scene a simple sky, I used more Distress ink that I watered down a bit and loosely brushed it across the top of my paper.  I used an aqua brush for this, but any paintbrush would work as well.

The sentiment I chose was also from the Everyday Brush Stroke stamp set, and I stamped it with my favorite VersaFine black ink.  This ink is a very rich, true black that stands out against everything and always gives a crisp impression.  To create the look of a field of flowers, I used a fine tip permanent marker in black to create simple "stems" by flicking my pen up from the bottom, changing the angles and length slightly to avoid a uniform look.  Some simple dots in black and then white ink finish the look.

I found a piece of pale blue card stock to use as a mat behind my focal, cut down to 4x5.25" so that it's slightly smaller than my A2 card base.  To carry more green into the design, I added a strip of watercolor paper that I colored with the same Distress Ink as before.  Making your own papers just by using inks is super quick and easy, and saves you the aggravation of never finding the perfect color to match your project.  I decided to pop up my focal piece on foam dots so that it would stand out just a bit (maybe that blue was too perfect of a match!), and then dotted on some Nuvo Crystal Drops.

I hope that you enjoyed this card project and that it gave you some new ideas for the very versatile Everyday Brush Strokes stamp set.  Please take a look at the other blog posts featuring these stamps and the other new items that Kat Scrappiness has.  Have an awesome day!

Spring & Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop for Kat Scrappiness

Hello, crafters!  Today I am bringing you my card project for the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop for Kat Scrappiness.  This is a great event running from May 25th thru June 1st, hosted by Kat Scrappiness and open to all.  I will provide more details at the end of this post, but first let's take a look at the steps I took to create this card.

Since this hop is focusing on Spring and Summer, I decided to use some colorful Doodlebug Designs chevron striped paper as the base for my coffee cup.  The adorable Kat Scrappiness Layered Coffee Cup Die makes a nice-sized focal for any project, with realistic elements and layers for adding dimension.  I used Kraft card stock for the coffee sleeve, and a nice bright white for the lid.

Once my coffee cup was assembled, I gathered together some kitchen themed stamps from my stash and stamped them out in coordinating inks of deep pink and turquoise blue.  I wasn't too sure which images I would use (or what would fit into my design) so I stamped multiples in both colors to choose from.  Believe me, the other images won't go to waste!

I selected a scalloped circle die and a plain circle die to create a little badge for my coffee sleeve.  The sizing had to fit within the coffee cup edges or else it would look unbalanced, so I used the coffee canister and two cups for my grouping.  I don't know what it is about these stamps, but I just love them!  I think I'll make a few more of these just to have them on hand 😀

As you probably already know, I'm happiest when I'm creating my own custom backgrounds, and this project was no exception.  I found the perfect turquoise and deep pink card stocks (both from Doodlebug Designs), and luckily found a chevron red rubber background stamp in my stash (it's awesome when that happens, isn't it?)  I used VersaMark ink and Clear embossing powder for the stamping on these 4x2.5" panels.  On the pink card stock I repeatedly stamped those two coffee cups to coordinate with my focal piece.  If you'd like a more subtle look, just do the stamping with the VersaMark ink and set it aside to dry.  You will get a lovely "watermark" look.

Another little trick of mine is to use my Copic alcohol markers to color small pieces of white card stock.  Sometimes it's just easier to find the right color when you create it yourself.  For the "Got Coffee?" Die I picked a lovely dark brown ink called Walnut #E59.  I find it a bit easier to color the card stock before die cutting so that you don't accidentally warp your words or get your fingertips overly inky.  I also like to use the scrap piece for lining up my words on my project.  By laying the scrap down first, I can simply snug the die cut words right back where they came from for perfect placement.

My final embellishment was to add a few scattered sequins in brown and golden tones, dotted with Nuvo Glitter Drops in Chocolate Fondue and Honey Gold.  And there it is - my finished card for the blog hop!  I hope that you enjoyed this card, and that you'll give these awesome dies a try.  Don't forget:  join the blog hop and share your own coffee lover's project with Kat Scrappiness for a chance to win a $25 gift card for the Kat Scrappiness shop.  Two lucky winners will be chosen for this, and a third random winner will be selected to receive BOTH the Layered Coffee Cup Die AND the "Got Coffee?" Die.  There is also a special shopping code for this event.  Enter "ILOVECOFFEE" as the discount code at checkout and receive 10% off your entire order.  This event runs from May 25th thru June 1st, so be sure to jump in and join us before time runs out.  Good luck, everyone!

New Design Team Member for Kat Scrappiness!

I'm so thrilled and excited to announce that I have been chosen as a new Design Team member for the fabulous Kat Scrappiness company!  I will be creating blog posts, YouTube videos, and card challenges along with the rest of the Design Team throughout the coming year and into early 2019.  This will be a year full of challenges and fun as I venture into a whole other side of paper crafting and social media.  I will be posting quite a bit about what we're all doing, so now would be an excellent time to subscribe to my blog if you haven't already.  Get your crafts supplies warmed up and jump into the party!