Nothing's Better Than Coffee Today

Today, October 1st is International Coffee Day. That’s a good thing because I think I shall be drinking quite a lot of it over the next 36 hours or so. You see tomorrow, October 2nd is World Card Making Day and I plan to once again attempt to make 24 cards in 24 hours. That’s design and make from scratch, twenty four different cards with decorated insides plus coordinating envelopes, all within a single twenty four hour period. Unfortunately before that happens I have to deal with a Bell Aliant technician who will attempt to resolve my ongoing internet issues. Of course I have no idea when he’ll get here, only that it will be sometime between 8am and 5pm. So in the meantime I’ll do some chores, and drink coffee while I get my craft room prepared. But first, today’s blog post, with a fun coffee themed card.

Celebrate International Coffee Day with this fun card created using the Nothing's Better Than Stamp Set and coordinating Love You More Than Dies from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE

Today’s project began with the Nothing’s Better Than Stamp Set and the large “coffee” sentiment.

On a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card I used Cinnamon Cider ink to stamp the word diagonally across the top left corner. Then I inked up the stamp again, stamped off onto scrap paper and stamped the word below the first. I reinked the stamp once more, stamped off, and stamped again and so on until I’d created a lighter diagonal line of the word. My next line was using the Cinnamon Cider ink at full strength, followed by another lighter line of the “coffee” sentiment.

Once I’d done about half of the layer, I changed the direction of my stamping and continued alternating the light and dark lines until it was full.

For my card base I chose Cinnamon Cider Card, cutting and scoring it using my Paper Trimmer. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

With that done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue to attach my custom coffee background to the front of the card base and set it aside.

CUP, CUP, CUP

Now it was time to stamp my coffee cups using the outline and solid images from the stamp set.

On a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card I stamped the cup outline in the bottom right corner using Cinnamon Cider ink. Then I inked up the solid stamp and stamped off onto scrap paper to remove a little of the ink. Now I could stamp into the outline and still see the decorative detail on the cup. Above the rim of the cup I stamped the steam image with Cinnamon Cider ink after first stamping off onto scrap paper.

Finally in the centre of the layer I then stamped “and I’m pretty sure tomorrow will be too” from the Nothing’s Better Than Stamp Set. Then using liquid glue I fixed the completed layer on the inside of the card base.

My second cup of coffee complete with steam was stamped onto the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.

That just left the focal point for the card front to do and that would require my third cup of coffee stamped onto a scrap of Very Vanilla Card. This time I planned to cut out the cup so I didn’t bother adding the steam at this point.

TOPPING IT OFF

Now I needed my Mini Cut & Emboss Machine with the Love You More Than Dies. First I used the coordinating die to cut out my stamped coffee cup and set it aside.

Next I covered the back of a piece of Very Vanilla Card with Adhesive Sheet and die-cut the word “coffee’ four times. Then I peeled off the backing paper and stacked the four words on top of each other, pressing down firmly to fix them all together. This would add height to the word without needing to fuss with Stampin’ Dimensionals later.

For my focal point layers I first cut a 2″ x 2-1/2″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. Then I stamped “today is a” in the top left corner, and “kind of day”in the bottom right corner. This was followed by the steam image (after stamping off onto scrap paper) higher up on the right-hand side. With that done I glued on the die-cut cup so the steam was perfectly placed.

Looking through my Cinnamon Cider card scraps I found a piece that was 2-3/4″ x 2-7/8″. It was a little bigger than I was looking for, but then I had an idea which meant I didn’t have to trim it down. Instead I used liquid glue to mount the Very Vanilla piece onto it over to the right hand side. Then I wrapped some Very Vanilla twine (from the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack) three times around the left side and secured it on the back with Tear & Tape Adhesive.

I was nearly finished but still had my stacked, die-cut “coffee” sentiment to add. All it needed was a little tweaking and it would be ready.

FINAL TOUCHES

I wanted to add colour, but not a solid colour, so I turned to my Cinnamon Cider Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Using the dark marker I first coloured over the bottom two thirds of the word, including the sides. Then using the light marker I coloured from the top, down about two thirds of the way. Where the two colours overlapped in the middle the blending magic happened.

All I had to do now was remove the backing from the Adhesive Sheet attached to the bottom of the stacked word and fix it into place on my Very Vanilla layer. Then with Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back of the assembled piece I added it to the card front and my project was complete.

I love how his card turned out especially since the colour scheme used only Cinnamon Cider and Very Vanilla. But by using the stamping off technique I was able to bring in a lighter tone that really adds to the overall design. I’d love to know what you think of this project, please leave a comment below and let me know.

If you want to follow my personal 24 Cards in 24 Hours challenge as it happens make sure you like and follow my Papercraft With Me Facebook page. Once the internet technician has completed his/her work today I’ll announce my start time. Then I’ll add updates throughout the 24 hours as each card is completed. I hope you’ll join me and comment on the cards as they’re posted. Wish me luck!