Coffee with an Autumn Feel

Playing along with Just Add Ink’s Autumn themed inspiration challenge this week! When the challenge was posted I knew it would be a perfect challenge for my coffee addicted self! I know there is more to this inspiration photo but…I own more coffee stamps sets than one person should!

Over the last month I have been learning NEW to me techniques and am venturing my way into more Mixed Media style techniques. I have a long way to go and am so excited to share what I make. I think it is imported to document this journey. I know in a few years it will be fun to look back at where I started to see how far I have come.

For this card I started with a piece of Bristol Smooth paper and then inked it up with Distressed Oxide inks. If you check out my Instagram or Facebook page, you will see I did two different versions of this card. Making this card twice really taught me A LOT about Distressed Oxide inks. As you will see one card is darker then the other and all I did was add a little more of one color or take away a little less of another color. SO exciting trying it out!

The Colors I used to create this background are:

Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Salted Ocean and Ground Expresso. If you have never used Distressed Oxide inks (like ME) you may fall in love with them. They are so creamy! The mix of pigment and dye ink is gorgeous. They are water reactive so you can get some great effects, I have more practicing to do on that process. For this card I sprayed the entire panel with water and then dabbed off the excess ink.

I used the Coffee Break clear stamp set from Whimsy Stamps to create my focal image and used elements from the stamp set to create my background. Then I used a stencil to add dot areas to give the card another layer of design. I added ink splatter with Distress Spray Stain Black Soot. Once the ink splatters were done, I added a coat of Distress Micro Glaze to brighten the colors up. When you add water to the Distress inks you get a milky chalk look that is really pretty, but for this card it was a bit dull. The Micro Glaze really made the colors shine. If you are going to add splatter to the card be sure to do it before adding the Micro Glaze, and make sure the panel is COMPLETLY DRY before adding the Micro Glaze. Or you will get smudges on your project! Ask me how I know! I have determined the best way to learn is by trying.

For my coffee cup I did a bit of paper piecing. I wanted the cup to have pattern, I used the Heart and Home DSP from Stampin’ Up! I stamped the cup on DSP first then Stamped another one on white paper. From there I fussy cut out the cup holder and lid and adhered them to the DSP stamped cup. I then added dimensionals to the back and popped it on the front of the card. As for the sentiment it is from Latina Crafter, I am not sure if it is still available. I have had this stamp in my craft room for years and this is the first time I inked it up. After that I decided to chop it up and added a Rusty Hinge to the edges of the pieces. This help the sentiment to blend better with the card. Then I adhered it to the card front. I adore how this card turned out and can not wait to keep practicing!

I hope you enjoyed this bit of inspiration, if you create using this sketch tag me on social media and use #ldscs. I will add your project to my stories on social media! If you did Leave a comment and let me know! Until next time, Happy Crafting.