Coffee Stains

Another card for the Coffee Loving Cardmakers' Summer Blog Hop.


I started with the cup and steam cut with the Cricut and the Joy of the Season cartridge at 1.75 inches.

I chose a blue card stock for the background layer.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Stains to add color to it with the Mini Coffee Splotch stencil by Rebekah Meier for The Crafters Workshop. I used Vintage Photo, Tea Dye and a bit of Tattered Rose distress stains on the blue applied with a sponge through the stencils and applied directly to the paper. I selected a warm toned peach colored card to which I applied Tea Dye and Tattered Rose to tone down the color.

I added a length of taupe seam binding to give the cup a place to sit.  I ran double sided tape across the blue layer then added pleats to the ribbon as I pressed down onto the adhesive.

I did touched the edges of the cup and steam with a bit of Vintage Photo Distress Stain applied with the sponge.

Share Your Cup - This Week

This was breakfast this morning.  I made Raspberry Rhubarb Compote yesterday from frozen fruit.  It's time to empty the freezer so there will be room for the upcoming bounty. 

I added a dollop of plain yogurt and a splash of cream.  I placed three cranberry citrus thins on a white salad plate. 

I choose a pink napkin to repeat the color in my bowl.

This is a new cup to me.  I generally do not buy cups made in Japan but this one had a dramatic color scheme. It features hand painted pink roses with black and gold rim.  You can see the rose is repeated on the inside of the cup.

I am drinking Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea.  A nice hot tea into which to dip my thins.










This is the book on my night stand this week.

An inspiring collection of more than 50 true stories, fictional short stories, and poems by 37 writers whose work is distinguished by honesty and vulnerability, combined with encouragement and hope.

I discovered that there is a companion Discussion Guide for personal reflection for group exploration.

I am enjoying the short stories before I fall asleep.

I have been enjoying making tea related cards for a week long challenge at Coffee Loving Cardmakers - Summer Blog Hop.

Submitting to
Sharing Your Cup #254 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth at Antique and Tea Cups.

Bernideen's Tea in the Garden.

Strong Coffee Glittered

I use large greetings quite often so I really liked this layout when I saw it the other day.

I chose a scrap piece of designer paper.  I cut it to 3.5 inches square then cut it in half diagonally. I chose a  golden yellow card and glue a triangle in the top left and the bottom right corners. 

I chose one of the greetings from the Verve Stamps Rise and Shine Digi set which was available for download during the Spring Blog Hop.  I sized it so that it would be most of the card front and printed it on vellum.  I embossed it with Jeweled Gold embossing powder.  I trimmed it close to the greeting then layered it onto a piece of teal card stock which coordinated with my designer paper.  These are held together with 2 glittered gold star brads.  The element was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape. 

I tried several options to add a mug to the design but there was nothing that worked. 

Submitting to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Summer Blog Hop.

Postage Stamp Trees

After I took out postage stamps for my class this week I sorted some green ones to create these cards.

I glued them to some dark green card stock and let them dry.  I cut triangles 2" wide and 3.5 inches tall. I then layered them onto red card stock leaving a tiny border. 

I created a greeting layer with a triangle tree and a sentiment printed in Handsome Hunter.  This layer was trimmed to leave a small border onto a dark green card. 

I added a gold star sequin at the top of the tree held in place with a tiny gold star brad.

Another few cards for my Christmas card stash.  Very good.

Watercolor Tea Cup

I stamped the tea cup oval from the Stampin Up Tea Party stamp set with embossing pad onto white card stock.  I embossed it with white powder.

I then selected 4 colors from the SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons - Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Garden Green and More Mustard.  I created pools of my colors on my palette then I spritzed the card stock, applied the color a paintbrush until I was happy with the result.

The small cup was cut with the Cricut and the Joy of the Season cartridge from white card stock at 1.25 inches. I then use Night of Navy to add some soft color to it.  I added a line at the base and the star with the same color.  The border on the main piece was also done in Night of Navy with a paint brush. 

I adhered the watercolor Cup of Tea layer to the front of a SU Night of Navy card.  I adhered the small cup to the left of the oval with 3D foam tape.

Submitting to
The Simply Irresistible Challenge hosted by Heather Telford and the Foiled Fox.

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Summer Blog Hop

Washi Tape Tea Cup

I started by creating a bit of a background with washi tape.  I chose bright summer colors in turquoise, yellow and pink.  I embossed the remainder of the background layer with the Cuttlebug Script folder. This was adhered to a turquoise card.

The cup was cut with the Cricut and the Joy of the Season cartridge from white card stock at 1.5 inches.  I then applied some black lace and solid washi tape to it and trimmed it to the edge.  I used a black marker and traced around the outside edge and colored in the handle.  It was adhered over the washi half with 3D foam tape.

I put a flower on the right hand embossed side.  The black flower was cut with the Tilda Buckle from Memory Box Dies.  I added a baker's twine stem and leaf.  The ends are brought to the inside of the card and taped in place.  I placed a small yellow handmade paper flower in the center and all is held in place with a tiny black brad. 


Sharing with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Summer Blog Hop.  

Tea Cup Thank You

I printed the photo onto 4x6 photo paper.  I trimmed it to 3.75 x 5 inches.  I selected a warm light pink card and adhered the photo to the front.

I stamped my greeting from the Stampin Up Simply Sketch set with Always Artichoke ink onto Pretty in Pink card stock.  I then punched the greeting with the SU Artisan punch aligning the greeting in the top half.  I trimmed the bottom half so that I had a straight edge to place it along the bottom edge of the photo.

Sharing with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Summer Blog Hop.

I made this card for a friend who lent me this tea cup, saucer and matching bowl for my 2018 Nice Cuppa photo tea calendar.  It is marked Luxford Fine Bone China made in England.  I was not able to find the name of the pattern.

Warm Tea Cup

I cut the tea cup from designer paper from a pad named Sweet Dreams - Holiday Avenue by My Mind's Eye.  I cut the cup with the Cricut and the Folk Art Festival cartridge at 2.25 inches.   I cut the corresponding solid shape from dark red card stock and adhered it behind the patterned one.

I color printed the greeting layer.  I trimmed the top and 2 sides and ripped the bottom.  I needed something to anchor the shape so I pulled out the Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a paintbrush.  I mixed a color with Real Red, Bravo Burgundy and Ridinghood Red.  I painted a horizontal spot for the cup to sit on and then a swirl of steam off the top.

The cup is adhered with 3D foam tape.






Sharing with Coffee Loving Cardmaker Summer Blog Hop.

Card Making with Seniors - DSP Split - Navy Yellow Floral

I love this summer card.

I started with double sided paper designer by Lori Whitlock - For the Record - Floral by Echo Park Paper Co.  It was cut to 5.25 inches by 4 and then cut again at 3.5 inches.  The small piece was turned over to reveal the yellow subtle pattern. These were taped back together.  I placed a piece of navy seam binding across the join and taped the ends to the back.  This layer was then adhered to the front of a yellow card.

I chose 2 different white silk flowers and one small golden yellow handmade paper flower for the accent.  These 3 flowers are layered onto a tiny navy star brad.  I used a push pin to create a hole through the ribbon and card front only then pushed the prongs into it and spread them apart on the inside of the card.

A great card for any occasion.  The small image is the same kit with the designer paper swapped places.

Card Making with Seniors - Flower Trio

I started with the gold foil flower stickers which are about 1 inch in diameter. I stuck them to turquoise card stock then punched them out with the 1.25 inch circle punch. Easier to align that way and ensure even spacing on the border.

I created a new large greeting which I printed on a quarter sheet of vellum and gold embossed it. 

The trio of circle accents were adhered above the greeting first.  This allowed me to know where to put my adhesive to glue it to the card front.

The vellum was adhered to the front of a black card once I had ripped the bottom edge.

Card Making with Seniors - Postage Stamp

This is a stash busting card.  Many years ago I collected postage stamps from letters sent to the place I worked.  I have sorted, culled, and sorted again several times over the years.

I decided on this bright postage in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union issued in 1999.  It was soaked off the paper it was glued to and then allowed to dry.

I mounted it to a piece of card stock slightly smaller to stiffen it.

I created a background with script and cancellation stamp images from The Graphics Fairy which goes with the concept of a postage stamp.  Digitally, I added a box for the stamp then printed the background on a quarter sheet. It was trimmed to leave a small border.  It was adhered to the front of the bright green card.

I applied 3D foam tape to the back of the stiff postage stamp and adhered it in the window.

Here's another version with the Rural Mail Boxes stamps issued in 2000.

Sending these to my card exchange buddies. 

Card Making with Seniors - June - Gear Collage

I wanted a card suitable for a guy in this class so I dug out the Tim Holtz Alterations Gadget Gears by Sizzix.

I selected this multicolored polka dot designer paper from Michaels.  I selected 3 colors of card stock for these cards - rust, medium blue and pea green.

I layered quarter sheets of all three colors of card stock and cut them all at once with this original thick die.  Fast.

The greetings were printed to coordinate with the card color on ivory card stock.

I adhered the piece of designer paper from Recollections at Michaels called Disco Ball to the card front.  I assembled the collage of gears which was adhered to the top of the card. I ripped the top and bottom edge of the greeting and placed it at the bottom of the card below the gears.  It is held in place with tiny gold star brads on the left and right of the greeting.

Here's one with the blue card and the greeting put at the top instead.

Recent Snapshots

On my walk the other morning I was surprised by a brush on my leg.  It was the neighbor's cat.  It meandered a bit as I stood taking photos of flowers.  Then his focus changed and as you can see something caught his attention.  I don't what it was and he did not pounce so it was not food anyway.

He is quite a large cat with nice coloring and nice eyes.

A trip to the Lois Hole Provincial park last night did not yield many good photos.  I guess the waterfowl babies are growing so the parents are free to move about a lot more.

I found the swallows in their regular place under the boardwalk sitting on the metal braces which keep it square.  He looks more puffy here than usual.  Love the orange color of his throat against the blue of the head. 

 I have not taken a lot of sunset photos in my time.  I guess I don't have an ideal place to take one.  Here I had to live with power lines.  There is trees between me and the sun so it does not create a super shot of the sunset on the water.

I am investigating where would be a great place to go capture that shot.  I'll keep you posted about more sunsets.

The birds were Black Headed Gulls which I had not seen before.



I finally got some peony photos.  I have been waiting for them to open for a couple of weeks.  Cool weather contributed to a slow rate of blooming.

There are so many colors and various levels of fullness in petals.  I love their grand size.  I found hot pink, light pink and white with a hint of pink.

Very happy with these.

The peonies were so lovely.  I like this two toned on with 2 shades of pink and the petals are filly in the center and smoother on the outside.

I believe this one is named Santa Fe.

It will likely be part of my photo calendar next year.

I continue to drive through Elk Island National Park in hopes of seeing and photographing bison. 

This was last Sunday on my way back from the country to visit my Dad. 

This is a small male.  He refused to lift his head.  They are majestic and very large animals.

Maybe, I can't blame him because there was at least seven vehicles on the loop taking photos. 



Sharing with the following:

Mosaic Monday #46  hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Through My Lens #100 hosted by Mersad

Iced Cappuccino

Getting caught up on my cards for the Coffee Loving Cardmaker Summer Bloghop.


For this card I used the free digi from Stamplorations.  You can find the it here.

I printed it on a quarter sheet of white card stock.  I then colored it with pencil crayons.  I used blue for background, tan for coffee and pink for roses. I cut it out and traced the edge with a black marker to eliminate the white edge.  I added a small pink flower in the middle ban of the cup on the right because it felt too open.  I guess I could have stamped something there as well. 

I then embossed a quarter sheet of pink card stock with the Sizzix Softly Falling folder and trimmed it to leave a small border.  I then wrapped a piece of white seam binding around it and placed the knot on the right hand side. 
The coffee accent was adhered to the pink with 3D foam tape to give the ribbon some room.  Then it was adhered to the light blue card base.  Love it!

Stamplorations is doing a never ending challenge. You can link a card made with their stamps & images.  So I am linking to that challenge as well.

Sweet Tea

Doesn't a tall glass of sweet tea sound appealing?

I created this card with one of my own tea photos which features a pitcher of sweet tea.  I applied a photo filter to create the monochromatic image.  Love the orange!  This photo is reused from this photo calendar.

The reused image is 4x4.  It was trimmed down slightly to ensure it fit behind the frame.

I cut a frame with the Die-namics Stitched Square Frames thinlet set from a soft teal card stock.  I adhered the frame to the tea photo.

I adhered the tea element to the top of a orange card base.

I designed the greeting, printed it onto white card stock, ripped the top and bottom edges.  It was adhered below the frame.

 

Submitting this card to the
Coffee Loving Cardmaker's Summer Blog Hop.

Tea Cup Thank You

I have decided to participate in the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Summer Bloghop. 



I cut my tea cup with the Cricut and the Joy of the Season cartridge at a size of 2.5 inches.  The designer paper is plaid in red and green with a bit of pink.
I chose my neutral layer card stock with a slightly green tinge to it.  I chose a greeting downloaded from Desert Diva.  I also printed a square into which I was going to place my cup.  Once printed, it was browner than the original red color I had chosen since it was printed on slightly green paper. The color wheel tells you that red and green make brown.  I had to change the card base selected to be more burgundy than my original selection. 
I trimmed the square and greeting to leave even borders on the card front as they were adhered. 
I could see pink in the designer paper so I punched small flowers from pink card stock and cut a couple of straight strips from a pink card stock.  I glued the strips at the top and bottom of the tea cup then trimmed them to the cup edge.  I placed the flowers across the cup below the pink strip.  I added small iridescent flower sequins and held it all in place with tiny pink brads.   I added another flower on the greeting. The cup was adhered to the square with 3D foam tape.  I added little heart steam by hand with a burgundy marker.

Tea and Lunch

I started by trying a recipe I saw on Jill's blog last week as part of Mosaic Monday.  These are Herb Scones.  I chose savory with basil, rosemary, oregano, and garlic.  As you can see that I baked them on my pizza stone which works really well and since it is very seasoned no danger of them sticking to the surface.  The recipe yielded 12 scones cut with scallop cutters.

Here's my collection of metal scallop/fluted cutters with really nice handles.  I have a set of graduated round ones in 3 different sizes varying from 2 inch at the smallest and 3 inches at the largest.

The rectangular ones are 1.25 inches by 3.25 inches.  They may be a bit small for certain things but it would be a great for shortbread.  A bit of research would suggest these may be from the 1940's.  I had to be patient and wait quite a while to get what I was looking for but these are excellent.  I had hoped to get square ones in the same set as the round ones.  I will keep looking.

I recently replaced a very heavy rolling pin with a vintage rolling pin which serve me well for many more years.

I made some Masala Chai tea which is the best I have tasted.  It is made by a couple of ladies in central Alberta - The Chai Wallahs.  A bit of honey and some cream.
I drank it from a large shallow cup in blue glaze make by IKEA.  I was thinking it would not be great for drinking but it turned out quite nice.  Update: It is a soup mug and not designed for tea.  Makes sense.

I had an egg cooked in my well seasoned cast iron fry pan.  You can see my restoration of it in this post.  it was certainly worth the effort.   The egg is cooked sunny side up which worked well with the place setting I put on my table.

I had the wonderful herb scones to soak up the wonderful yellow yolk.

Dessert was plain yogurt topped with a raspberry rhubarb compote.  Mom sent some rhubarb home with me on the weekend.  I added some frozen raspberries and a bit of honey and boiled over low heat until the rhubarb broke down a bit.  Nice change from bananas.



Here is the total table setting.  I place a navy table runner over a lace table cloth over a white solid table cloth. 

Still love my little square yellow dessert dishes and the yellow is repeated in the egg and napkin.

Sharing with the following link parties.

Bernideen's Tea in the Garden

Tuesday Cuppa of Tea hosted by Ruth

Share Your Cup #253 hosted by Jan at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

2018 Nice Cuppa Calendar

I have a Nice Cuppa calendar this year which features wonderful cups.  It includes bone china tea cups, porcelain mugs, earthenware mugs, and ironstone tea cups.  I decided to put the cups up front this year.  I chose items to support the cups as needed.  My collection is small but all are pieces I really love.  Tea is my drink of choice but these vessels can hold coffee or hot chocolate as well.  I have enjoyed the hours of pondering the cup and how to make it shine. I chose flowers, books, table linens, candles and leaves to create a photo that was appealing.

Check out my Calendar Page to find the details.

2018 Nature Calendar

My 2018 Nature photo calendar filled with animals, insects, birds, and other examples of nature in the world.   I have been able to get a few good bird photos, a bison photo and some cute creatures as well.  I have taken quite a few trips to the national park, many trips to the wetlands and kept a keen eye out for movement in my world.  Some of these just turn their backs on me every time I try to photograph them.  Others are curious but wary.  I have had a great good time working on this calendar.  I hope many find it a great gift idea.

Check out my Calendar page for details.

2018 In Bloom Calendar

This is another photo calendar for 2018.  I collected 12 of my floral images from my collection.  I just love taking pictures of flowers. They provide my world with color, texture, and wonder.  These are all macro photos which brings the beauty front and center.  I resisted putting seasonal flowers on particular months with the exception of December. 

Check the details on my Calendar page.

Mosaic Monday - Ellis Bird Farm

I spent the day with my sister for our birthday last week.  We visited the Ellis Bird Farm where we took photos, had lunch, tea and ice cream dessert.  The weather was good with a bit of wind to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Birds of many species call the farm home.  I took a photo of this American Goldfinch as he was eating at a bird feeder just outside the window where we had lunch.  He was chomping on sunflower seeds.  There were several feeders with a variety of seeds to attract different kinds of birds. 

Bee houses for wild bees were a new addition since my visit a couple years ago. 

About 300 species call Alberta home, and honeybees, which are native to Europe, aren’t one of them. Most of our bees, unlike honey and bumblebees, are solitary. We have leaf-cutting bees which slice circles out of leaves, sweat bees which are drawn to the salt on our brow, and mining bees which burrow into the ground like gophers. Like bumblebees, solitary bees are passive and won’t sting unless their life is threatened. They lay their eggs in holes no wider than a centimeter in diameter. Finding these holes is the tricky part, with the bees looking to rotten logs, cracks in old buildings, or even hollowed out reeds and raspberry canes.  It is very easy to build a bee house to provide shelter for these pollinators which make much of our food possible.

I researched a bit about building bee houses. 

• Plan to place the hotel off the ground and facing east or southeast so it gets the morning sun and shelter from prevailing winds and rain. 
• Don’t locate it next to doorways or along well-traveled paths where you and bees can disturb each other. 
• Tuck them in a spot of the yard where you’ll visit but not where you live outdoors.
  Put it in a spot where you’re not going to move it. Bees navigate by landmarks and moving their hotel can be very confusing for them.
• If you use cardboard tubes for holes, make sure to replace them every spring. If you’re using wood materials, you’ll want to change them out when they fill up with bee leftovers.

We had a great lunch.  We planned for a late lunch which was a good idea because at the lunch hour the Tea House was full with a seniors group who traveled by bus to visit the farm.  The guide was saying that their tour schedule is open for registration in January and in a week all their spots are full. I had butternut squash filled pasta with shrimp which was excellent and my sister had spinach salad with chicken. Ice cream was our choice for dessert but favorite Maple Walnut was not available.  The waitress suggested Algonquin Canoe Ice Cream which had the maple flavor with caramel filled chocolate canoes.  It hit the spot.

Tree Swallows were around in great numbers.  I took this photo of a couple having a squabble on the fence near the pen where the goats were housed.  Sure looks like he had a lot to say.

The farm has many flowers on the property.  I took this photo of a yellow flower with the bee busy pollinating.  There were pansies, roses, iris, and a bunch more I did not identify.

Bird houses are everywhere on the property.  They have been built by local supporters as well as builders from across the world.  Many were occupied so every once in a while a head would pop out.  There were bird house condos as well which had been painted in red and white for Canada's 150th Year Celebration.

It was a great day.  Sharing with Mosaic Monday #45 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.