Friday, September 25, 2015

Happy National Coffee Day!

Today is National Coffee Day - clearly, one to celebrate! It's also a great excuse to make coffee-themed cards!
I've been inspired recently by Starbucks' images they're using to promote their Fall drinks. I love the use of white space surrounded by fall-themed items, and thought they would translate well to a single layer card - which works perfectly with the current Lawnscaping Challenge: One Layer Cards (http://lawnscaping.blogspot.com/2015/09/hi-there-welcome-back-to-another.html).

For these cards, I decided on one image I wanted in the forefront, then gradually added other images using a masking technique. For instance, in the card below, I first stamped the coffee bean, then heat set the image briefly to help the ink dry. I then stamped the coffee bean on a post-it note and cut it out (i.e.- created the mask), then stuck the mask over the coffee bean stamped on the card. Then, I stamped the coffee mug next, so that it partly overlapped the mask of the coffee bean. The effect of this is the opposite, as it makes it look like the mug is BEHIND the coffee bean after you remove the mask (but don't remove it just yet!). I then heat-set the mug image, created another mask of the mug stamp and stuck it on top of the card, being careful to keep the coffee bean mask on the page, and then stamped the next image so it overlapped the mug. 
I continued this process until I'd stamped all my images, and then carefully removed the masks. The end result is a single-layer card that has a lot of dimension without extra layers! Here are a few more Autumn-themed single-layer cards.

"So what's with all of the random falling leaves?" So glad you asked! Unfortunately, I wasn't super careful with my stamp blocks, so when I was stamping some of the images I ended up adding a small bit of ink where I didn't want it. My solution? Just add a leaf on top! This covered the mistake, and then I added a handful additional leaves to make it look more purposeful. Hooray for Happy Accidents! :)
I'vee also decided that I need to get a new black ink, as these mugs weren't as crisp as I wanted them. I think I'll snag a Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, as I see it used ALL THE TIME on the Lawn Fawn blog, and it clearly works well for others!
This last card (above) ended up being my favorite - no surprise there, with it being a Christmas-themed card! :) I can't WAIT for Starbucks' Red Cups and Holiday Beverages to return!
For the cards above, I used all Lawn Fawn stamps (of course!), pulling from the following sets: Love You a Latte, Deck the Halls, Sweater Weather, and Thank You Tags.

I'm also adding this to the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, which I just now discovered!
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22 comments:

  1. Wow, these are all so pretty! Great job!

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  2. And thanks so much for playing with us at Lawnscaping! Lol. I got distracted by your lovely cards.

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  3. adorable cards! thanks for sharing

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  4. Love these cards and reading how you masked everything! Your falling leaf card is just amazing! Like you, I can't wait for Starbucks red cups either!!

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  5. These are all awesome. I love the ones with the falling leaves (don't you just love happy accidents?).

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  6. very pretty, great idea from the Starbuck's cups!

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  7. Fabulous set of coffee inspired cards :-) Love the CAS designs and the falling leaves!

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  8. I love this set of cards and all of the masking you did you get some of the little images to appear in the front. Wonderful job!

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  9. Some really lovely cards, J., love that you tried multiple cards using the same technique! The results are fab! Happy hopping!

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  10. Great masking job done, specially love that fall theme one, all are so inspirational, love them!

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  11. Yay! Glad that you found us...your cards are wonderful...I'm always amazed at the magic of masking!

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  12. What a terrific set of cards and fab take on SB inspiration!

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  13. Such a gorgeous card set! I love the one layer stamping!

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  14. I love masked cards; the images are just magical! This is a beautiful group of Fall cards, and one early winterish one. One-layer, CAS cards - be still my beating heart! Very cool. Bev

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  15. This is my first Coffee hop too... I'm loving it! Your cards are very sweet!

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  16. Pumpkin spice is nice, and card has color and elegance.

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  17. Love your cards, all are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing this inspiration! ~Annie

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  18. Wow these CAS coffee cards are gorgeous!! Wonderful take from the inspiration.

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  19. great one layer cards! I cover up a lot of oops that way too. :)

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