Hoppy Father's Day!

Coffee/Tea of the Day - World Market Fireside Rum coffee

Hoppy Father's Day to all of the dads, granddads, uncles, and father figures out there! :)

now I say 'hoppy' because my card today is inspired by all of the fabulous craft beer breweries around our wonderful world! Dave and I enjoy visiting them as we travel the country (or we did travel a bit before my health woes took over).  in the Cleveland area, which is near where we live, there are some amazing breweries, not to mention in the state of Ohio. I was never really a beer drinker, but have enjoyed trying some since some of the stouts have tastes similar to my beloved coffee. did you realize that? servers are always amazed that I am the one drinking the dark beer, while Dave gets the lighter ones. it's funny. :)

Power Poppy has this really fun "Hops and Barley"digital image which includes several neat sentiments that can be used for different occasions. they currently have a sale going on if you use the code COLORINGCHALLENGE.  I believe the sale goes through the end of the month and can be used multiple times. for more information, head to their store or blog.

I added the image twice, flipping one of them, and then inserting the Benjamin Franklin quote inside the space. I then fussy cut around the piece. the papers are from the Authentique Meadow collection. the brown gingham is one of my favorite go to papers right now. it's actually the flip side of their journal cards, but I just love the look, especially for masculine cards. :) I added texture paste over a Carta Bella stencil in the corner.

matting dies are by Spellbinders, seam binding is from Zipper Stop and was distressed with ink, vintage buttons are from my stash, and jute ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

the inside reads, "Hoppy Father's Day," which is one of the newest sentiments that was just added to this set in the past week. I didn't get a photo.

I apologize that my photo is so light. I am having a tough time with photo editing with my head all messed up due to the seizures. my eyes just don't seem to work properly. so very sorry. if you click on the photo, it will take you to a larger window where you can see everything in much better detail, and hopefully that will make it better. I will try to do a nicer job on future projects until I can get over these yucky things.

Have a most lovely day, and thank you for stopping by!
Jennifer

Challenges:
Allsorts - use at least 2 dies (both by Spellbinders)
Craftaholics R Us - kraft (card base and one of the matting pieces)
Digistamps 4 Joy - anything goes w/optional for the men in your life
Crafty Calendar - 3 of something (buttons)
Pile it On - holidays (Father's Day)
Catch the Bug - bingo: ribbon, die/punch, sentiment
Daisy Chain - for the boys/men
Simply Create Too - for a male
Aud Sentiments - anything goes w/a sentiment
Cardz 4 Guyz - Father's Day
Stinkin' Inkers - the guys have it
Try it on Tuesday - for the boys
Unicorn Ch - masculine
Daily Marker 30 coloring challenge - trying the best I can when my seizures allow

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Winner at A Bit More Time to Craft
Best Technique Winner at Champion of Champions Worldwide Challenge

Coffee of the Day - Irish Creme

I would like to say Happy St. Patrick's Day to each of you! I hope you have your green on today. :) if not, grab a smidgen of green ribbon you picked up in the Really Reasonable Ribbon store, pin it to your lapel, and you'll be good to go!

To get you in the mood for festivities later in the day, I'm sharing with you an altered project I made for one of my sons. He saw it while it was a 'work in progress' in my craft room, so  he actually thinks it was made for his brother. what a sneaky mom I can be when I need to be! grins!

I started with a wooden shamrock wall hanging I found on the JoAnn's website. I did quite a bit of work on it to get it ready to alter. I sanded off all of the glitter and added many coats of paint of different shades of green with some browns in between.

papers are from the Authentique Charmed collection, with a ripped piece of a paper bag thrown in for good measure! felt shamrock was from Michael's a few years ago, little applique is vintage as are the buttons, and flair buttons were found at the dollar store. fun vintage dog image is from an Etsy store called Vintage by Me. I actually burned the edges before adding it to the collage. beer stein die is from Find It Media.

plain cotton blend ribbon was tied and added to the shamrock face, green burlap string was tied in a bow around the stem, and 5/8" emerald green gingham plaid ribbon is used for the hanger. I did add some kraft ink to the gingham to age it a bit.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! have fun celebrating!

Challenges:
Champion of Champions - anything goes if a previous winner
Craft Rocket - anything goes
Crafty Ribbons - green with ribbon
A Bit More Time To Craft - anything goes
Craft for the Craic - St. Patrick's Day

Raising an Irish Mug to Ya

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

for the next few days, I'll be sharing a few St. Patrick's Day cards I've made to send off to my sons away at school. We love St. Patty's Day here at our house! :)

Today's card uses an image from MelJen's, although she no longer sells her images anywhere. it's called "Irish Brew." the little strip of torn paper & banner are from the Authentique Charmed collection. can you tell how much I have loved using papers from that collection this season? it really is wonderful if you can get your hands on any before it sells out.

the other day when I was making my Irish Coffee card, I knew I was going to need those cutey little shamrocks. but I am a paper hoarder when it comes to the card stock from Paper Temptress. I don't have that much, so I use it very sparingly. I came up with the idea to put the Memory Box die across the bottom of the Olive BASIS card so it created a little cut out. this way I was able to get the die cuts I needed for the other card, but also get a fun effect on this card! cool! :) I highlighted the shamrocks with the same craft ink I used for the edges.

card base was also sprayed with olive glimmer mist. as you can see, someone in the family made the sacrifice to drink a Guinness so I could use the label and bottle cap here on the card. ;) pretty lime juice grosgrain ribbon from RRR was added to the label along with a vintage button tied with olive burlap string.

this was my first time using liquid applique, and I confess mine is fairly old. it was fun, so I'll definitely try it again! sure adds a lot to the foam on the beer stein! :)

enjoy your day and I'll see you back here again tomorrow!

Challenges:
Outlawz Twisted Thurs - add green
Shopping Our Stash - oh, me lucky charms (liquid applique is VERY old!)
Get Creative - St. Patrick's Day
Crafty Cardmakers - go green
Incy Wincy - shades of green
Glitter 'n Sparkle - use some green
Pile it On - green plus 2 other colors (gold and light blue for main image bg)
Quirky Crafts - masculine with ribbon or twine (I have both)
Choux Choux Paper Art - St. Patrick's Day linky party
Hiding in My Craft Room - super scraps (both pieces of designer paper are scraps)