Patriotical

Okay, look that word up in your urban dictionary... It means Patriotic AND nautical all at the same time....  And that's what I was going for with my card. Mountain Plains Crafters is hosting a Summer Challenge 2015 sponsored by the amazing May Arts Ribbon.. 'Like" them on their Facebook page  -- you will find all kinds of inspiration there !! To enter our challenge, all  you have to do is link up a Patriotic or Nautical card to our blog post for a chance to win a fabulous prize. Also be sure to check out the other projects by my fellow DT members..

It's no secret that I am in LOVE with anything woodgrain.. Paper, washi, ribbon, stamps, stickets, embossing folder... So when I saw a cool post by Tammy Tutterow on her blog , I just had to try it.. Just make sure you label the toothbrush before you start using it for paint !! I squeezed a small amount of Tim Holtz Ranger Ink "Spun Sugar" Distress Paint onto my non-stick craft sheet, used an old toothbrush to pick up the paint, then ran the toothbrush up and down the kraft tag to create a woodgrain look.I used a toothbrush with varied lengths of bristles. After the acrylic paint had dried -- you can use a heat gun if you are impatient -- I used a blending tool to ink the entire tag with "Stormy Sky" Distress Ink..Then rub the tag with a clean, dry cloth. Paint creates a resist to the ink and you will remove the ink from the paint, creating a great effect..  A great big thank you to the fabulous Tammy Tutterow !!

The background paper was a printable design by Rhonna Mask Farrer that she offered free to her Instagram followers. Perfect for this challenge. You can see more of her amazing designs here I used an anchor die from Spellbinders and attached it to my tag using the best adhesive ever for detailed dies, Tombow's Mono Aqua Liquid Glue. It has a pen tip for small areas and is my Go-to glue for my dies ( and everything else ) !! A Nautical ticket roll by Fancy Pants provided the 3 tickets on the right side of my card, And to finish, I used a piece of fabulous May Arts Adhesive Rosettes ribbon. A bit of twine complemented my tag. The fabulous paper as my card's backdrop is from the ever-wonderful DCWV and their "Hey,Sailor" stack.

If you link up a card to our challenge, you have a chance to win a great prize of some fantastic ribbon from our sponsor -- May Arts Ribbon. And if you comment here on my blog you have another chance to win a great prize of nautical goodies along with some May Arts ribbon !!

Challenge begins 6/25/15 at 1:00 am ET and ends 7/4/15 at 1:00 am ET 

Link up a NEW project. No backlinking allowed.

(Limit of 2 entries).  

Winner will be announced late on July 4th.  Happy Independence Day! 

Link up at our blog HERE

Mountain Plains Crafters Summer Challenge

Thanks everyone !!

Summer Latte

I wanted a summery, tropical feel for my last card for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.. I used my new favorite set by Tim Holtz --- Fresh Brewed Blueprint and stamoed the Latte . I stamped again on MAMBI "Destination Paradise" paper and cut out the entire cup. I mounted the patterned paper cup onto another design of the MAMBI paper. The card was embellished with 2 strips of Stampin" Up washi..I mounted it on a bright summery turquoise card to finish it. Oh, and can't forget the famous logo !!!

I have loved being part of this Blog Hop again... Crossing my fingers that we hit 500 links.... I have a good idea that we will ... So close already !!

Summer Cuppa Joe

With a life full of "stuff" these days, I haven't been able to post every day of the much anticipated Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. But today after winding down my week with ongoing home repairs AND a burned-out motor on my AC unit ( thankfully repaired already ), I sat down and made 2 more cards from a set that I have been wanting to ink up for awhile..

As a coffee lover, this set by Tim Holtz -- Fresh Brewed Blueprint -- is now one of my favorites !! For this card, I used some Paper Studio "Country Road" paper to paper-piece the cup with a brick/butterfly pattern. Background paper is Vintage Findings by Making Memories. A bit of glitter for the steam and I was done... LOVE this card !! Hope you do too !!

Thank you so much to Amy Tsuruta & Chaitali Narla for all of their amazing work on this Blog Hop and the Coffee Loving Cardmakers website.. This time we hit close to 500.. There is still time and my 2 cards will get us a little closer to 500 link-ups..

From The Heart for Fathers Day

Fathers Day brings back many wonderful memories. My father and brother are no longer with us, taken way too soon, I miss them every day. Growing up in Pennsylvania, my family hunted and fished. We spent many weekends in the great outdoors and deer were always  everywhere. At relative's houses in the country, we saw deer in their backyards many times. I wanted to honor the memory of my father and brother and knew this die was the perfect one to use on a card for them.

The Design Team of Mountain Plains Crafters is celebrating Fathers Day by creating some projects to honor the men in our lives. Check out their blog to see all of our creations and details on supplies. What do you do to celebrate the special men in your life on Fathers Day?? Share a memory here that you have. Maybe you are honoring someone's memory or celebrating someone's first year as a father. 

We hope you enjoy all of our projects. And stay tuned on June 25 for a new challenge and giveaway.  The theme?  Nautical or Patriotic.  Prize sponsored by May Arts Ribbon

Supplies: Spellbinders "Bird Stand" die, Pebbles "Lakeside" background paper, 

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection "Simple Sayings" for sentiment, 

Sizzix Tim Holtz "Tattered Banners" die

Background woodgrain paper by Webster's Pages

Coffee - the Smell of Possibility

First, let me say that I do not know who drew this image-- i saw this quote & girl with coffee image online without any information about the artist.. I have searched without any luck.. I hope if anyone knows they will get in touch with me. I wanted to use bright, sunny summery colors and although the colors are muted, I love this card..

I used the Taylored Expressions "Joe-to-Go" set for the cup images and made the sleeves by paper-piecing using some scraps of Bazzill Basics Paper "Miss Teagen Sue" collection . This is some of my all time FAVORITE paper !!  The small amount of coloring on the cups, the mug and the shirt stripes was done with my Akashiya SAI watercolor brush pens. I finished up the image with some  Scattered Straw Distress Stickles on the buttons.

Card #3 for the super Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop !!  Check the Hop out for hundreds of amazing projects. I posted a card each day of the Spring Hop but this time, life is getting in the way. Although I do hope to post another before the finish on Friday, June 12.. I hope you enjoy this card as much as I did making it !!

You Had Me At the First Sip

If I could, I would wear flip-flops all year long.... So when I saw this die of a pair of flip flops, I knew it had been made just for ME !! Simply paired with a bit of ribbon, a  coffee cup and a cute sentiment... Not much time at all to finish this card... Linking this one to the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop too !! Check out all of the wonderful projects at the Hop. You will want to run right out for a cup of deliciousness !!  http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/

Supplies: Die-Versions " Flower Flip Flops" die, DCWV Summer ribbon,  Stampin' Up Freshly Brewed coffee cup, Vera Lane Coffee sentiment Digi-stamp


What an amazing number of sponsors we have for this Hop..  I know it will be as successful as the Spring version.. Link up a project or comment for a chance to win some fabulous prizes !!

Coffee Will Fix Everything

It's that time again for another Blog Hop -- this time it is the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. A big shout-out to Amy Tsuruta and Chaitali Narla for hosting this and doing such a great job. There are awesome sponsors and chances at great prizes for linking up a project. The blog post is at this link -- Have fun either linking up or checking out those who do --- http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/2015/05/get-ready-for-the-summer-coffee-lovers-blog-hop/

My first card epitomizes SUMMER to me. A big beach bag ( preferably filled with summer books ) and a coffee from the Starbucks right near the Boardwalk here in Virginia Beach .. I hope you like the card !! These Die-Versions dies are amazing .. And when you place a piece of wax paper between the die and your cardstock, all those little pieces are SO much easier to get out !!

Supplies : Die-Versions 'Beach Bag" Whispers die , DCWV Summer Adhesive ribbon, Stampin' Up "Freshly Brewed" coffee cup, Vera Lane Studio Coffee sentiment Digi-stamp, Map magnet embellishment, glitter heart on coffee stirrer