TTCRD DT 5 Nov and Coffee Lovers Hop Project 2

Hi Lovelies!


Today is challenge day for Design Team B for the Through The Craft Room Door Challenge.  This is a WEEKLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with 2 design teams who alternate weeks to make projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

This week we have a free choice of image, so I continued with my Distress Ink and Ink Road stamps.  Unlike the previous project when I used the "packaging technique" I used a brush and was much happier.

The ink looks neon in the pictures, but it really isn't!

In addition to "Mug Life", I also used two other Ink Road stamp sets - "Boymom" and "The Struggle is Real" for the sentiments.  In both cases each sentiment was a single stamp, but using a craft knife I cut each one so I could use part of the sentiment above the image and part below.  If I were to see myself only doing this occasionally, I'd just mask it, but I thought the stamps would be more versatile cut since I could mix them up with other stamps.

I didn't use any ink splatter on these - just clear sequins and adhered the watercoloured panels onto the card bases with plenty of foam tape to keep it from puling away and smooth out any warping.

These cards will also make up Project 2 for the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I Run on Coffee and Chaos

I Can't Emphasize this enough: COFFEE!!!

OK now to the giveaway part:

 

Giveaway CLOSED
📌 I have three items (and a bonus fourth prize) to give away (pictured below) and I'll pull three names for the first three prizes.

📌For the  fourth "bonus" prize: it will go to someone who has entered the main blog hop (please let me know your project numbers if you would like to be considered.  You can wait til the blog hop is over to do this since they change sometimes.)
📌 The first name drawn gets first choice, second name gets second choice and so on.  Bonus prize will be TallCraftyDude's favourite project!
📌 This Giveaway is NOT SPONSORED.  I purchased the prizes especially for this giveaway.  This year I picked stuff other than just stamp sets to mix it up a bit!  In the even the items I purchased are on back order, I'll purchase something similar in their place and update the list below. Thanks for understanding!

The prizes you get to pick from are:

This pair of embossing folders - "On the Go" by Tim Holtz and "Coffee Stains" by Creative Expressions

 

 

 

 

 

Framelits Die & Stamp Set By Crafty Chica for Sizzix called "Mi Cafecito Mi Amor"

 

Coffeesaurus Stamp Set By Gerda Steiner

Lastly, the bonus prize will be a pack containing a 6x6 "Coffee" paper pad by Echo Park and some coffee themed embellishments.  This prize will be awarded to TallCraftyDude's favourite project so PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT NUMBERS IN THE MAIN HOP YOUR PROJECTS ARE IF YOU WISH TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS PRIZE!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

You will receive an entry (or entries) for each of the following.  You absolutely don't have to do everything - just how ever many you like.

If you have previously followed my socials then these are already counted for you!  (unfollowers will not be counted)
📌 The giveaway will remain open until 11:59PM AEDT on Sunday 10 November.  Please visit THIS SITE to calculate in your own timezone
📌 The winners will be drawn randomly on Tues 12 Nov so PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE
❗If the winner and I can't make contact by Tues 19 Nov, I will have to draw a new winner since I need to get these prizes out all together.
❗Please try to email me at alex@pinkcraftymama.com This really is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you since not all blogger profiles have an email attached and if you JUST leave comments, I have no other place to search for you.

So...what do you have to do to get entries?
🍵Subscribe to my YouTube channel - 3 entries
https://www.youtube.com/user/PinkCraftyMamaAlex
🍵 Follow this blog - 3 entries (in the left sidebar)
🍵 Follow me on Facebook - 2 entries
🍵 Follow me on Instagram - 1 entry
🍵 Comment (once per day per person) on a post between now and the close of the giveaway - 1 entry per post

I don't yet know how many makes I'll have done between now and then, but it will be at least three.  The more love from you guys the better the chances of me getting crafty which gives you more chances to enter.  I may continue with extra "unofficial" projects after the Hop actually ends, so be sure to keep checking back here since you get an entry for commenting!

Click here for Project 1

So today...if you want to leave a comment, tell me whether drink any other caffeinated drinks besides tea or coffee?  (or anything else if this doesn't grab you) and please don't hesitate to  email me with any questions at alex@pinkcraftymama.com


* ⬅⬅⬅ Acronyms and strange terms in left sidebar! 

Love and copious cups of coffee!

Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Project 1

I can't believe it's hopping time again!  If I wasn't prepared for the Cat Lovers Hop, I'm really REALLY unprepared for this one!  And yes I'm doing another giveaway.  I'm trying to grow my YouTube channel and forgot to include it to get entries in the last hop so I have this time.  If you enjoy watching crafty videos, please subscribe to my channel!

Aaaaanyway...I felt I needed to start simple.  I had one of my regular infusions yesterday (and not the caffeinated kind) so I wanted to get something done before (and complete my DT assignments).  This didn't leave an awful lot of time.  

I pulled out my Distress Inks and used the "packaging technique" with the intention of stamping over the hop.  I was inspired by this set of cards by Kimberly from Freshwater Studio.  I wondered what this would look like in rainbow colours.   I'm seriously unconvinced.  I definitely think Kimberly did a much better job using the browns.

I do have the same Altenew stamps, but I was in a snarky mood, so Mug Life by Ink Road Stamps was a better choice.  Despite using a MISTI, I managed to get some smudgy stamping.  😖😖😖

I put some October Afternoon stickers in a lighter cream (to blend in with the watercolour paper) over the top and restamped.  Not ideal, but not totally awful. 

This one is roughly 4.5 inches and I definitely went too far with the rainbow.  It's pretty though.  

If you are familiar with Ink Road stamps you may notice the text has been surgically excised from the frappe cup.  I don't use profanity, so it had to go.  I borrowed the stars from another IR set since the space felt too empty and lastly some gold splatter and black sequins secured by Mini Glue Dots.

I thought I'd try some splatter with shimmery red and pink mist.  Big mistake!  Combined with the sentiment it looked way too Dexter-esque! 🤣🤣🤣 I liberally added plain gold and covered the worst of it with pink iridescent sequins.  I was slightly amused though. 🤷

The next two are quite a bit smaller at around 3 inches so I decided to keep them simpler.  I didn't add sequins to either - just the splatter and I'm happier with the background too.

This last background might have been my favourite in how the colours mixed.  I'm not sure.  There will be another post in about 12 hours time using the same stamps except I watercoloured the background with a brush instead.  I like those much better, so be sure to check back and get another entry! 

OK now to the giveaway part:

 

Giveaway NOW CLOSED

📌 I have three items (and a bonus fourth prize) to give away (pictured below) and I'll pull three names for the first three prizes.
📌For the  fourth "bonus" prize: it will go to someone who has entered the main blog hop (please let me know your project numbers if you would like to be considered.  You can wait til the blog hop is over to do this since they change sometimes.)
📌 The first name drawn gets first choice, second name gets second choice and so on.  Bonus prize will be TallCraftyDude's favourite project!
📌 This Giveaway is NOT SPONSORED.  I purchased the prizes especially for this giveaway.  This year I picked stuff other than just stamp sets to mix it up a bit!  In the even the items I purchased are on back order, I'll purchase something similar in their place and update the list below. Thanks for understanding!

The prizes you get to pick from are:

This pair of embossing folders - "On the Go" by Tim Holtz and "Coffee Stains" by Creative Expressions

 Framelits Die & Stamp Set By Crafty Chica for Sizzix called "Mi Cafecito Mi Amor"

 

Coffeesaurus Stamp Set By Gerda Steiner

Lastly, the bonus prize will be a pack containing a 6x6 "Coffee" paper pad by Echo Park and some coffee themed embellishments.  This prize will be awarded to TallCraftyDude's favourite project so PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT NUMBERS IN THE MAIN HOP YOUR PROJECTS ARE IF YOU WISH TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS PRIZE!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

You will receive an entry (or entries) for each of the following.  You absolutely don't have to do everything - just how ever many you like.

If you have previously followed my socials then these are already counted for you!  (unfollowers will not be counted)
📌 The giveaway will remain open until 11:59PM AEDT on Sunday 10 November.  Please visit THIS SITE to calculate in your own timezone
📌 The winners will be drawn randomly on Tues 12 Nov so PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE
❗If the winner and I can't make contact by Tues 19 Nov, I will have to draw a new winner since I need to get these prizes out all together.
❗Please try to email me at alex@pinkcraftymama.com This really is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you since not all blogger profiles have an email attached and if you JUST leave comments, I have no other place to search for you.

So...what do you have to do to get entries?
🍵Subscribe to my YouTube channel - 3 entries
https://www.youtube.com/user/PinkCraftyMamaAlex
🍵 Follow this blog - 3 entries (in the left sidebar)
🍵 Follow me on Facebook - 2 entries
🍵 Follow me on Instagram - 1 entry
🍵 Comment (once per day per person) on a post between now and the close of the giveaway - 1 entry per post

I don't yet know how many makes I'll have done between now and then, but it will be at least three.  The more love from you guys the better the chances of me getting crafty which gives you more chances to enter.  I may continue with extra "unofficial" projects after the Hop actually ends, so be sure to keep checking back here since you get an entry for commenting!

Click here for Project 2

So today...if you want to leave a comment, tell me whether you still drink hot coffee/tea in  Summer since that's where we are heading here in Australia (or anything else if this doesn't grab you) and please don't hesitate to  email me with any questions at alex@pinkcraftymama.com


* ⬅⬅⬅ Acronyms and strange terms in left sidebar! 

Love and copious cups of coffee!

Coffee Lovers Spring/Summer Blog Hop Project 2 (unofficial)

(Goveaway now closed)

Click here for Project 1
Click here for Project 3

Well I honestly hoped to get this finished and posted 24 hours ago, but these things happen (usually to me)!😂

I'm mixing things up and posting a layout (yeah I know it's predominantly a cardmakers hop) since I'm going to continue posting projects over the next few days until I close my giveaway on the 16 May 17 May.

This layout is based on Prompt 8 from Shimelle's Layer on Layer on Layer class.  It was always going to be a challenge for me with it's uncharacteristic lack of paper and dimensional "stuff".  Shimelle's version also used more subtle ink blending and slightly less crazy stamping! 😳😳😳

I had an idea in my head how this was going to go.  Naturally the result looked nothing like this.  I might have known by now! 🤦

Firstly I saw right away why Shimelle didn't take her stenciled ink blending all the way to the edge of the page.  After I did mine I could see why.  And it was WAY.TOO.BRIGHT! 🕶🕶🕶 UGH!

I toned it down by spraying the whole thing with a shimmery white mist which I knew wasn't too opaque. It wasn't quite enough in some places so I came back with a slightly more opaque mist.  It squirted rather than sprayed which in the end gave some interest to the layout with the whiter droplets.

Now that it was as good as it was going to get I marked out the space the matted photo should take and started stamping.  I used most stamps by The Ink Road, but came in with a few others too.




I found a little spot for journaling which I added in before I accidentally covered it up and added some dimensional embellishments and the title.

I went in with Glue Dots right away for the red Thickers, but the Navy were too narrow.

Chipboard Thickers are notorious for not sticking at the best of times, but the shine from the mist creates a film which makes it even harder for things to adhere.  Glue Dots were fine with anything wide enough to accommodate them



I took a sewing machine to messily stitch over the alphas which needed it and to make it more purposeful I added some stitching to the top and bottom of the page too.  Glad I did since it added some texture and interest to the whole layout.

I really don't know how I feel about this one.  It could be because it's so different for me or because I was actually quite pleased with my last 2 layouts (will share those after this impromptu coffee thing is done) so it's probably time I felt 🤷!

Things Never Go Unnoticed

OK now to the giveaway part:

Giveaway Now Closed! Thanks for Entering!
📌All prizes are from The Rabbit Hole Designs.  A new company which I can't speak highly enough of.  Most of their current stamps feature hilarious critters and plenty of coffee snark.  Their super speedy shipping and excellent customer service are hard to beat so made sense when I placed my last order to choose to purchase prizes from them as well.
📌 I have three items (and a bonus fourth prize) to give away (pictured below) and I'll pull three names for the first three prizes.  For the  fourth "bonus" prize: it will go to someone who has entered the main blog hop (let me know your project numbers.  You can wait til the blog hop is over to do this since they change sometimes.)
📌 The first name gets first choice, second name gets second choice and so on.  Bonus prize will be SmallCraftyDude's favourite project!
📌 This Giveaway is NOT SPONSORED.  The bonus prize is a stamp set I received free and The Rabbit Hole Designs have given me their blessing to include it in the giveaway.

The first stamp is called "Caffeinated Dino".  I chose him because my SmallCraftyDude says I'm like a T-Rex with my short arms and hair trigger temper! 😳😳😳  The sentiments are so apt also!

This next guy ("Caffeinated Rabbit") is a nod to the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and you know how I love that!

We have a pair of smaller stamps next: ("Caffeinated Crab" and "Caffeinated Bee") just to mix things up a bit

Lastly, the bonus prize is called "Handmade Brew".  As I mentioned above, to be eligible to win this, just let me know which numbers in the main blog hop your projects were.  It's probably better to wait once it's finished.  Just email (alex@pinkcraftymama.com) me or leave me a comment or PM in any of my socials.

You will receive an entry (or entries) for each of the following.  You absolutely don't have to do everything - just how ever many you like.

If you have previously followed my socials then these are already done for you!

📌 The giveaway will remain open until 11:59PM AEST on Friday 17 May (a whole week)
📌 The winner will be drawn on Saturday 18 May so PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE!
❗If the winner and I can't make contact by Saturday 25 May, I will have to draw a new winner since I need to get these prizes out altogether.
❗Please try to email me at alex@pinkcraftymama.com This really is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you since not all blogger profiles have an email attached and if you JUST leave comments, I have no other place to search for you.

So...what do you have to do to get entries?
🍵 Follow this blog - 3 entries (in the left sidebar)
🍵 Follow me on Facebook - 2 entries
🍵 Follow me on Instagram - 1 entry
🍵 Comment (once per day per person) on a post between now and the close of the giveaway - 1 entry per post

Click here for Project 1
Click here for Project 3 

I don't yet know how many makes I'll have done between now and then, but it will be at least three.  The more love from you guys the better the chances of me getting crafty which gives you more chances to enter.  I may even keep making after the end of the hop, but you'll have to keep checking back since the link up will be closed.

So today...if you want to leave a comment, tell me does your coffee/tea/chocolate drink change in hot weather? What do you drink instead or in addition? (or anything else if this doesn't grab you) and please don't hesitate to  email me with any questions at alex@pinkcraftymama.com

Love and copious cups of coffee!

Card 2 for Cat Lovers Hop 2018

So far so good!

The stamp set I'm giving away (giveaway now closed)  is not just good for cardmaking, it works just as well for scrapbook layouts, travellers notebooks, planners, BuJos etc etc!

Click HERE to see yesterday's post

Click on the cat graphic below to go to main Blog Hop Page

 

So I briefly mentioned Ink Road Stamps since I'm giving away a set they make.  They're a really fun company with plenty of unique funny and snarky (💖💖💖) sentiments!  Click on the link above to check them out.

In a slightly unrelated turn of events, they ran a naming contest of their newest embellies (half pearls) in their Facebook group.  I thought the suggested name would be the winner...not the actual PERSON making the suggestion, but hey I'm not complaining!

Did you know pink is the only shade of a colour (red) that has its own name?  If I am going to be named after red, I can definitely see Red Hot Mama being a hit.  Any takers? 😂



Aaaaanyway...today's card uses an Ink Road stamp set called Meow Mix (Don't you just hear Dr Evil singing the jingle every time??).   Meow Mix is one of those mix and match cat faces type stamp sets.

Well a certain Small Crafty Dude was naughty and after confiscating all his tech (and there's an awful lot) I decided to put him to work given my looming deadlines and had him stamp cats.

Well this is what you get when you ask a disgruntled SCD* to do something.

After hissing some death threats, eventually I got at least 3 useable cats.  I did have to add white pupils on the middle one.  SCD* said "argh those eyes are soooo creepy!  They're gazing into your soul and plotting ways to kill you"  OK I didn't think they were QUITE that terrifying, but whatevs.

I used the packaging technique when experimenting with the Distress Oxides the other day and got these backgrounds.  One has some resist spray used with a stencil, but the resist doesn't seem to work all that well with the stencils and definitely not with oxide ink unless you use droplets.  I need to look into it more.

Aparently the man himself (Tim Holtz) says if you aren't happy with your background, you aren't done yet and need to add more.  Even the queen of the more-is-more-is-more philosophy was dubious, but I persisted and he's kinda right!

I use the background I liked better with some older dies from Taylored Expressions and a Stampendous sentiment.  Simples, right?

 

But wait!  There's more!  This morning I woke up at about 4am and had the most genius idea.  What if I spliced "Meow Mix" with another Ink Road stamp set called "As you Wish"???  It's a Princess Bride themed set and well...everything seems like a good idea at that hour, right?

Only one way to find out so I got up and started by masking the sentiment and adding in the "Mew" from another set...(by Paper Smooches)

Now for the Westley cat...if I use the sunnies and touch them up with black and white pens...and cut the sides off...along with a very serious expression.







Princess Buttercup was much easier!

I know I didn't really centre the "mew" very well, but I cut it out with a die by Shimelle.  These will definitely go on a card, but not until I get some of Shimelle's newest collection called "Head in the Clouds" which has castles and dragons and all the good stuff!
 





OK!  Time for tea (another present from my very dear friend Joy) and bed ... for a half hour before it's time to get up!  😏

Now for the Giveaway (closed)!   

PS...you remember yesterday I said a certain grey cat might have
a " 'nip" habit?
Even SCD says he always looks stoned in every photo.
Kinda like this one! 😹😹😹


*acronyms in left sidebar ⇐

Love and catty creativity!