Coffee-Themed Double Challenge Card

I'm sure you'd agree, the more you hop around your favorite blogs, the more you learn. That is certainly the case for me! How did I never know about the Play Date Cafe before? Such a cute name and inspiring blog. (not to mention cute little coffee graphics all over the place.) They offer weekly challenges that really get you going! My friend Deb Young created a beautiful card for this challenge and inspired me to check it out and try it for myself. Thanks, Deb!

So that's the first challenge: The Play Date Cafe Challenge #41

The second one is my newest find: Heart 2 Heart Challenges

The Play Date Cafe Challenge involved color combinations this week that are a little outside of my comfort zone. (Funny how we get stuck in a rut, isn't it?) That's why this blog will be one of regular faves. It pushes me outside my zone. I love that! And once I got going, I was really enjoying the challenge.

For my card I used Tulip cardstock and papers, Colonial White and Creme Brulee with a few accents of black. This color combination has a warm feel and what better to go with that than coffee! I was recently inspired by Tim Holtz and one of his newest Alterations dies called Rosette that he demonstrated in a short video. Since I don't have the die yet, I just fudged it and made it by hand. Wow, are those rosettes easy and fun to make! (I'll be creating a video on how I made this card soon, so stay tuned.)

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge sketch is shown here. I love this challenge blog since it's ALL Close To My Heart products and inspiration. This new stamp set is coming out in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book and it's called "A Sip" and if you know me, you know that I collect all things coffee: paper, stamps, whatever! This cute little set has a cup, a spoon, steam and a few little words and phrases.

For my card, I stamped the cup and spoon image onto Tulip cardstock with Versamark and embossed with Black then cut each out closely. The center of the Colonial White rosette has a Filigree Charm inked with Black Staz-on inserted in it. The border of the card has been stamped with regular black ink using the steam image from the same stamp set. The ribbon is from our Creme Brulee collection and because it's a little lighter in color than our Creme Brulee cardstock, I simply inked it with a sponge dauber and more Creme Brulee ink to darken it up.

Hope you enjoyed your cup o' joe this morning as much as I did. Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.