But before Christmas can come .... COFFEE!!!

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You'll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencils I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Red Border Layer**: 5.5 x 4

Card Face: 5.5 x 3.75

See Cheating on Layers and Borders under Stretch Your Pennies in the header

Card Face:

• I sprayed the back of the Christmas Coffee stencil with Pixie Spray.

• After laying the card face on the Grip Mat I masked off any areas that were in danger of attracting stray ink and positioned the coffee cup portion of the stenci on an angle in the lower right of the card face. I brushed on red ink, layering more colour in the lower left corner of the cup.

• Leaving this stencil in place, I added the Rocky Path stencil *** over the cup and added more red ink to create the pattern on the cup. (leaving the first stencil in place ensured the pattern was only in the area I wanted.)

• I removed the stencil and cleaned it well. I wanted to reverse the image of the cup so I flipped the stencil and sprayed Pixie spray on the front this time.

• I positioned the cup in the upper left of the card face and repeated the steps above, using green ink.

• Taking the Faded Lines stencil, I laid it over the card face and brushed on light brown ink with a soft hand, avoiding the two coffee cups.

• I put the first stencil back on and added the words with dark brown ink and a firm hand.

• Using the stamp positioner, I added the sentiments to the mugs. ( I needed to ensure that these were on the correct angle for each cup and that they avoided the large center sentiment.)

• I added the splashes from both cups using a stamp and dark brown ink.

• I added the holly with a stamp positioner, masking off the red berries, stamping the green and, then adding the red to the stamp with a marker and restamping.

• I cut out the large sentiment with a deckled-edged die.

• I cut down the card face to the final size with a deckled-edged die.

***See Layered Stencilling under Techniques in the header

Assembly

• I glued the red border layer to the card base, centering vertically.

• I glued the card face on top of this, again centering vertically.

• I glued the large die-cut sentiment back in place in the center of the card face. (The die-cut border served to pull the eye in to the center of the card without popping it up.)

Final Thoughts:

I really do need my coffee to get through the very busy Christmas season! In addition to card making I sing with a local group and we perform from mid-November to just before Christmas.

I found I needed Pixie Spray for the Christmas Coffee stencil to protect the fine white line that separates the inside of the cup from the outside. It is a very fine strand and it needed to be tacked down to make it stay in place as I added ink.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It's a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencils:

Christmas Coffee: A Colorful Life Designs

Faded Lines: A Colorful Life Designs

Rocky Path: A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Stamps: All Stampin’ Up! (retired)

Dies: Deckled Rectangles, Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Pixie Spray: Michaels

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Contact section in the header - I’d love to hear from you!

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Handmade Cards Sure to Bring A Chuckle