Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hello! I thought it would be fun to play along with the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. For a little background, here's how it works:

• Our wonderful leader, Amy, has a link-up at her blog: http://tsurutadesigns.blogspot.com/2014/12/holiday-coffee-lovers-blog-hop-details.html
• The cool thing about this hop is it's built as more people play! There's no pre-set hop order.
• If you want to play along, just make a hot-beverage-themed card, post it on your blog, then link it up over at Amy's blog.
• The linky will remain open through Friday, December 12th at 11:55 pm Pacific. This will give everyone plenty of time to link up, perhaps even multiple times!
• You can choose to join in, or just hop along and check out what everyone else has made.
• The actual hop will end Sunday, Dec 14th. This is for participants (people who link up) who are offering blog candy to people commenting on their blogs.
• If you want to just check out everything later, Amy will be pinning all of our cards to a board at Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/tsuruta/holiday-coffee-lovers-blog-hop-2014/ 
• There are sponsors, which means there are prizes for participants! To be eligible, you have to link up. Regular hoppers (non-linkers) are only eligible for blog candy offered on individual blogs. 
• Amy will also be awarding 5 prizes to people that comment on ALL of the linked blogs!

Got that? Basically, you can play along or just hop. I chose to play, because it was an excuse to use a coffee stamp set. It wasn't even MY coffee set, but I used it. Here's my card, then I'll explain:

I borrowed the Simon Says Stamp What's Brewing set from my crafty pal I visited last weekend. I was going to color it, but I don't color well, especially on large open spaces. Instead I opted to stamp it on pretty paper. I spent the most time stamping and cutting out the white inside rim of the mug and the "coffee", which has been enhanced with a layer of Glossy Accents.

I also added the steam because the layout needed something. I stamped and white-embossed it before I stuck the mug to the card front.

I followed a sketch from Stamplorations for their December challenge:

 where we're to choose any of their sketches. I chose Sketch #2:

I love a good sketch! :D

That's enough blathering for now. Make sure to check back at Amy's blog for new links, and also the list of great sponsors! You've gotta link for a chance to win!

Please carry on with the hop, and thanks for stopping by!

PS: Sorry, no blog candy or recipe here. :( 

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OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop!

Hello, and welcome to the 2014 Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop!  If you'd like to start at the beginning, you can click here, or (hopefully) on the image above and go to the OWH blog. The list of participants is an Inlinkz list, so you won't see the usual "if you came from ..." or "your next stop is ..." links. Just go back to OWH and follow those links.

Our theme this year is Red, White & Blue, and to make a card with one of the general OWH themes they need the most and that work all year long: Love, Miss You, Thank You, Birthday, or AnyHero cards (cards for the troops, not for them to send home).

I usually make cards in these categories already since I know they can be used all year long. Those are the best! So my card for the hop is ... ta da:

This was one of five cards I made the other day, but I failed to follow the RW&B theme (!). But since this one was white & blue, and I thought it looked a little nekkid, I added some red hearts. :)

I did not use one of the fabby OWH sketches this time, but I do use them a lot the rest of the year. Since they hit sketch 225, their PDF has been updated. It's a great resource.

Speaking of which, OWH itself is a fabulous organization! If you make cards and don't know where to send them, check out the OWH guidelines and sign up to contribute!

Okay, enough blathering. Please go to the OWH Hop list and show some of my fellow participants some love!

Thanks for stopping by!

Products used: Scotch washi tape picked up in an office supply store when I wandered off my intended path, and the following:

InLinkz.com