Tea Thanks

 

I've been drinking lots of tea lately - it's been both energizing and soothing, not to mention delicious. It's not completely out of character for me, as I've enjoyed tea throughout the years. But I'd always stuck to my familiar herbal teas. Lately, I've been trying other flavors and discovering what I love and what I don't. Since I was feeling inspired, I thought I'd make a simple little card with a teacup and I like how it turned out.

I've been going through phases lately of wanting to do things in a very minimal (clean and simple) kind of way, and then bouncing to more complex/layered as a way to make good use of many supplies. It's very rewarding to explore different styles, even if I'm not always comfortable with them.

I think growth comes from pushing past our comfort walls and into places where we can explore intuitively. We get better with practice - lots and lots of practice.

It's been Oolong

I just love puns, so - of course - I couldn't resist whipping up a simple "tea" card with a punny sentiment. It's been "oolong", friends, it really has!

Fun fact - I actually wanted to use this stamp as my "comeback from hiatus" project, but I couldn't find it. I think it's time to tidy my crafty stash again...

Thanks for reading,
~Elle~

A cup of warmth

One of my dear friends is down with the flu, so I thought I'd send a little cheer-me-up card with a cute teacup sticker and some well-wishes. I kept it really simple and flat so it's quick to mail and (hopefully) even quicker to reach her and make her smile.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Cup of Tea

 Simon Says Stamp - Coffee and Tea stamp

Of course, I couldn't just make a coffee card with Simon's Coffee and Tea stamp set. I had to make a tea card, a very girly pink tea card that's complete with a doily and some glittery gold enamel dots.

I had fun coloring the teacup and using a dot technique to add an interesting texture and a bit of an ombré effect with different pinks. The yellow accents are shimmery and sparkly, which ties in perfectly with the glitter enamel dots.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Bunny Tea Time x 3

One of the things I've been trying to challenge myself to do a lot more of lately is multiple cards with the same stamp set. Not only is this making good use of the set, but it helps me build up my card stash better - and leaves me with lots of cute cards I can gift to friends and family.

So, I'm bringing back my Stamp Trio Challenge and sharing 3 cards made with one stamp set.

Today's stamp set is Bunny Tea Time by Memory Box (you can find it here).

This is a smaller stamp set (which makes it very affordable), but it still has a great variety of images and sentiments to work with. I chose to stamp out my images in black hybrid ink, then color them in with Copics. I stamped and colored a lot more images than what I used for my three cards, which leaves me with cute images I can use in the future, as well.

For the first card, I used a lovely patterned paper from Shimelle's True Stories paper pad. I loved the brightly-colored cups, so I used them as inspiration for coloring the bunny. This card is a bit busier than usual, but I still like the bright colors.

For the second card, I went with a style that's a bit more subdued. I used My Favorite Things' Painted Prints: Citrus paper pad that had lovely painted blue stripes. To create some extra contrast, I added some orange/yellow and gold. For this card, I played with off-center placement, and I really like how it turned out. I also dug into my embellishment box and pulled out several different enamel dots and sequins.

The last card is probably my favorite. I used another paper from Painted Prints: Citrus, and I added a Project Life journaling card I'd matted with some cardstock. I set the card on an angle, then added a chipboard frame and the bunny + sentiment. I liked how the elements echoed off of each other (polka dot background/polka dot frame) even though nothing matched up perfectly or came from a single paper line.



I hope you enjoyed seeing Bunny Tea Time in use and that you're inspired to dig out a stamp set yourself and get creative!
~Elle~