Blog Hops Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Clear Stamps and Crafting Products

A Creative Gift Idea for the Holidays

A Creative Gift Idea for the Holidays is what I have for you today. Last Fridays post for the 2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop you had a peek of this creation! I am going to show you how to create one yourself! It is a really cute little gift holder for hot chocolate in the example but you can use it for anything! Whether you use it for gift cards, coffee, tea, or treats… the possibilities are really ENDLESS!

Check out the awesome Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop we are participating in, check out my blog post HERE for all of the info and projects too! Lots of prizes, creations and amazing inspiration to see! The hashtag is #winter2016clh

The supplies that you will need for the Creative Gift Idea are:

You’re Snow Wonderful ACJwM Stamp Set

Decorative paper (cut to 7″ x 11.5″ – snowflakes)

Paper for the topper for the gift holder (cut to 3.5″ x 5.25″ – purple))

Paper to be used for the tag placed on top of the topper (3 x 5″ (white)

Corner rounder

Scissors

Ribbon (White)

Ink (Black)

Stamp block

Hot chocolate packet

Scoring Board

1/8″ hole punch

Adhesive

This is the Creative Gift Idea that we will be making today. Doesn’t look like much, does it? When you take the bow and lift the topper off…..

You get an awesome hot chocolate holder!

I just love it. It is really easy and can be replicated for teachers, friends, neighbors, birthdays and so many other things!

So let’s get started. Take out your decorative paper, scoring board and topper paper.

You will be scoring the decorative paper with the long/wide side at the top of your scoring board. Score your paper at 3.25″ and 7.75″. Set aside.

Take your topper paper for the Creative Gift Idea and score it at 1.75″. Take out your decorative scored paper.

Fold your papers at the score line ensuring they are even and folded so they meet up to the edge of the paper.

Take out your adhesive. Be sure to use a strong adhesive. Many have heard and use what crafters call red tape. This would work great as well as what I used which was the Scotch ATG tape. Starting in the center of the bottom of your paper going to the right, place adhesive on half of the bottom of your decorative paper adding adhesive to only the bottom .75″.

Fold your paper in toward the center of the paper to the left and adhere to the bottom of the paper creating half of your holder.

Place adhesive down the left side of your paper from the edge to 1″ toward the inside of the paper. Place adhesive from the center to the left (at the bottom part where it wasn’t glued) ensuring you are not gluing the holder to itself.

Press down on all edges ensuring the adhesive has stuck properly and set it aside.

Take your other scored paper, the Topper, and fold it at the score line ensuring it is folded in half equally. You will then take out the sentiment paper and use the corner rounder on all four sides of the topper paper and two bottom sides of the sentiment paper. Take out your

Take out your ink, stamp block and You’re Snow Wonderful ACJwM Stamp Set.

Peel off the To: stamp and the From: stamp from the You’re Snow Wonderful ACJwM Stamp Set. Place the To: stamp on your block and ink it then stamp the sentiment on the left bottom of your sentiment paper to be placed on the Topper. Clean your stamp and place back on your stamp sheet. Take out your From: stamp , ink and stamp your sentiment onto the bottom middle of the paper to be placed on the Topper. Clean your stamp and place back on your sheet.

Use your stapler and staple on the left and right side of the Topper paper ensuring the opening is at the bottom and you are stapling the sides. You will want to staple at least .25″ – .50″ in but making sure there is enough room for the topper to fit over the gift holder.

Make a hole with your 1/8″ hole punch in the top middle of the topper paper.

Roll your ribbon small enough so it will fit through the hole on the top of the Topper paper. Pull it through so it is about half in front and half in back.

Carefully open the Topper so you can see the ribbon. Pull the ribbon through so it looks like this.

Using whatever item you are using on the pulley, measure to ensure that the ribbon is long enough and will fit the item you intend to use.

Once you have figured out the size of the item you wish to include, you will tie the ribbon. *Note: Be sure to hold onto the ribbon so that you don’t make it tighter for your item. If you do, you can always untie it and start over again. Trust me, I have done it a few times myself before 🙂

Tie a bow on your topper. I use the two rabbit ear way to do tie the bow with the ribbon because always turn out much better for me rather than the other way.

Trim your ribbon so that the excess is cut without any area hanging over your package.

This is what it will look like once completed but without your item placed in there.

This is what both sides will look like once you have created them completely.

Now you will be putting your gift holder together! Take both the topper and bottom and place your hot chocolate packet in the Creative Gift Idea!

Your gift is ready for sharing with a loved one, friend, neighbor, teacher or whoever you feel you would like to put a smile on their face!

The winner of last weeks blog giveaway is Becca Yahrling!

Becca Yahrling says:
These look so fun to make and what endless possibilities.

Becca, you are the winner of last weeks giveaway of the Spinner Greetings Stamp Set.

Please send me your contact information via contact page on our website and I will get your set out to you! Thank you so much ????

This week for our Giveaway, we are giving away our You’re Snow Wonderful ACJwM Stamp Set

This stamp set is what we used for our tag on the Creative Gift Idea. You can even use the sentiments for cards and the images for a background design on your planner, journal, card or scrapbook pages!

To qualify to win, you must be a follower on YouTube, subscribe to our mailing list/blog posts and you may also comment on this blog post for an additional entry to win!

NOTE: If you are subscribed with two different names and I am unable to match you with your subscription to both the blog and the YouTube Channel, you will be ineligible to win as I can’t decipher if you are a matching subscriber to both. DO NOT COMMENT WITH YOUR ENTIRE EMAIL ADDY you subscribed with as I don’t want you to get spam or have your comment go to spam. Just enough for me to match you will work perfectly. Thank you for your understanding.

Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial of the Mod Melts and Melter today and I hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa!

2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY

Welcome to the 2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

If you happened to come by here by chance, WE ARE SO HONORED and thrilled that you did!! We are taking part in the AWESOME 2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! The hashtag is #winter2016clh and we are showcasing our love for Winter & COFFEE!! I LOVE Winter, the holidays and of course the cool crisp air. Although I miss the snow and all of the fun that comes with it. Being from Chicago I miss the REAL winter weather but now I live in California where I am still wearing shorts in December. It is supposed to be 80 next week. No, I am not kidding.

Whether your drink of choice is hot chocolate, coffee, tea, or even a blended drink; you are going to really enjoy the 2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

There are SO many AMAZING companies participating! We are really honored and excited to be one of the SUPER SPONSORS & FLASH PRIZE SPONSOR for this amazing blog hop! We also have our own giveaways right here on our blog! Be sure to read the WHOLE POST to qualify to win!

To start at the beginning of the 2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop please click HERE.

The 2016 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop runs Friday, December 9th starting at 6:00 AM Pacific Time thru Friday, December 16th. This allows you PLENTY of time to participate by hopping, creating or BOTH!

Winners for the entire hop will be announced on Sunday, December 18, 2016 HERE.

If you aren’t familiar with the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Group and would like to learn more, be sure to join their Facebook Group HERE to ensure you get the latest info on all of their blog hops! The group is SUPER fun with awesome creativity and inspiration throughout the year and of course.. GREAT SEASONAL HOPS with WONDERFUL COFFEE inspiration! We would hate for you to miss out om the inspiration and possibilities!!

Now, onto the projects we have for you today! The theme is Winter annnnnd …… Yep! YOU GUESSED IT! COFFEE!

First up is the AMAZINGLY talented Alena on our Creative Crew. She has created a lovely ornament using the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! stamp set. I love the colors, bling and of course her love for Christmas!

Hi A Creative Journey with Melissa Friends,

this is Alena with the ACJwM Creative Crew. My creation is a Christmas paper ornament. This creation is a combination of my love of Christmas and coffee. I just love that the sentiment from the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! stamp set created by ACJWM is just the perfect sentiment for my ornament!

This is my first of two creations. The first creation is a card I made using the Winter Wishes from our You’re Snow Wonderful stamp set. I used the Coffee is my Liquid Therapy stamp set for the coffee sleeve and liquid therapy sentiment on the wooden coffee cup embellishment. I love how the wooden coffee embellishment works perfectly with the coffee sleeve! The paper was from my awesome haul from Michael’s on Thanksgiving.

My second creation is perfect for this time of year. GIFT SEASON… right?

I don’t know if this applies to you but as a creative Mom of two, I was ALWAYS looking for something fun and creative to do with my kids. I was the room parent for my kids classes. In doing so, I liked to change it up so it wasn’t always the same thing when we had parties or crafts, etc. I was always looking for different gift ideas for teachers and faculty for gifts too. This is a great gift that won’t break your wallet. It’s a WIN/WIN! I will be doing a tutorial on the above creation on my Monday’s with Melissa videos so be sure to come back to learn how I made this super cute and EASY gift! Yes, I said gift… You say… WHAT GIFT? Well, that is the fun part!

If you lift up the topper of this adorable creation, you can put a packet of hot chocolate, tea, or anything you can imagine!

FUN RIGHT? The ribbon is holding in the hot chocolate packet! You can create this too as it is perfect for those gifts for teachers, friends, co-workers and loved ones… And what about SECRET SANTA? YES! IT DEFINITELY works for that too! Do you want to see the tutorial on this project? Check out my video and blog post HERE.

The GIVEAWAYS…

I am doing three giveaways on my blog! I will be picking three winners as I am giving away the three stamp sets used for the creations above; Coffee is my Liquid Therapy , You’re Snow Wonderful stamp set and the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! stamp sets.

To qualify for an entry to win, you would need to be a follower on YouTube, subscribe to our mailing list/blog posts and you may also comment on this blog post for an additional entry to win!

NOTE: If you are subscribed with two different names and I am unable to match you with your subscription to both the blog and the YouTube Channel, unfortunately you will be ineligible to win as I can’t decipher if you are a matching subscriber to both. Thank you for your understanding.

Our blog winners will be announced on our blog post on Monday Dec 19, 2016.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and our blog/newsletter to qualify to win and to find out if you are a winner!

This is open to everyone, not only the US!

We are honored you have come to visit today. Don’t forget to use the

coupon code wclh2016 to save 25% on non sale items!

We hope you will subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Blog/Newsletter updates and check out our website! Happy Hopping and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winners

So grateful to all of you that participated in the hop, sponsored, organized, created and so much more! You are greatly appreciated! Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel & blog/email list for giveaways, product reviews and so much more! We have Mondays with Melissa so be sure to stay tuned for that tomorrow! We have an awesome giveaway as well as a creation in honor of Breast Cancer Month which is October.

SOOOO back to business….we have our 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winners! If you are looking to see if you won prizes for the hop, please go here and they will be posting some time today all of the winners! For our winners here on our blog, we wanted to say we are so honored to be participating in such an awesome hop with such amazingly talented people! WOW! I loved reading your stories and when you do your holiday cards… Sounds to me like I need to get on the ball.. SO many of you are almost done! So I am excited to announce the 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winners of the two coffee stamp sets we are giving away: Coffee is my Liquid Therapy as well as Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY!

The first 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winner is:

Janet Ingraham says:
September 24, 2016 at 10:55 pm
Well first thank you for offering your two prizes. I try to start making Christmas cards in October.

Reply

A Creative Journey with Melissa says:
September 25, 2016 at 11:20 am
Thank you for hopping and we are honored to be participating!

The second 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winner is:

Maja says:
September 24, 2016 at 9:18 am
These are awesome!!!! I’m trying to work on my holiday cards through whole year, but I make most from September til December.

Reply

A Creative Journey with Melissa
A Creative Journey with Melissa says:
September 25, 2016 at 11:26 am
Hi Maja, That is me… Always thinking I will get them done but it never happens!

2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winners, Congratulations and please be sure to send me a message ASAP so that I can get your prize out!

Thank you for stopping by and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

Coffee Crafts using Scraps

Coffee Crafts using Scraps is what we are doing today! Who doesn’t have a TON of scraps and who doesn’t LOVE COFFEE CRAFTS? So we combined the two for Coffee Crafts using Scraps! I love all things coffee so why not create some adorable cards with that theme? I thought it would be perfect to Coffee Crafts using Scraps because the creation is really a cute generic card that can be used for just about anything! A great way to utilize your scraps as well as get a stock pile of some cards to keep on hand! Let’s get started!

In addition to your manual die cut machine (I use my Big Shot by Sizzix), Here are the items you will need to create the card. I suggest you cut multiple pieces so that you can make more than one. It is always helpful to have a few cards on hand, don’t you think?

The sentiment for this card comes from the the Fall & Winter Holiday Sentiments stamp set. We have an awesome discount coupon code for the 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Hop. Be sure to use fclh2016 at check out to save 25% on all non-sale/bundled items.

Here is the creation we will be making.

You will need to take out your Fall & Winter Holiday Sentiments stamp set, ink, punch, card stock and stamping block.

Place your stamp on the block.

Ink your sentiment.

Stamp your sentiment on your paper. Take out your punch.

Using your punch, punch out your sentiment. Set aside your punched out sentiment.

Here are the coffee cup die cuts we will be using for a background pattern on our paper.

Take out your coffee cup die cut. Notice the side that has the ridges for the embossed lines.

Take out your paper, sizzix die cut machine, platform and two acrylic clear plates. Place your platform on tab 1. Then place one clear plate and a piece of paper down on your sizzix machine. Place your coffee cup die with the ridges facing down on the paper you want to cut as shown.

Place your second platform on top of the sandwich of platform, clear plates and paper.

Using the handle, turn the handle so that the die cut “sandwich” gets rolled through the sizzix machine.

Remove the plastic plate then taking out your die and paper.

This is what it looks like once the paper has been cut by the die. Repeat die cutting so that you have enough of the die cuts for your project.

Take your die cuts and place adhesive on the back and adhere to your patterned paper as shown.

This is what it will look like once you have placed the on the paper. I purposely put the coffee cups hanging off of the edge so that you can get the feeling like it is a repeat patterned paper.

Trim the excess coffee cup image so that it no longer hangs over the edge.

This is what the base patterned paper looks like without embossing (left) or with embossing (right). You can leave the paper like this and use it but I prefer embossing it as I really like the texture and the look of the embossed paper with the die cuts.

We are going to emboss your patterned paper. Take out your sizzix platform placing it on tab 1. Then place your clear platform on top as shown.

Take out your patterned paper with the adhered die cuts and your embossing folder.

Place your paper inside the embossing folder.

Run your embossing folder through the die cut machine and take it out of the folder. This is what the front looks like.

This is what the back looks like.

Take your adhesive and place adhesive on the back of the embossed paper.

Place your paper on the front of your card.

Take out your punched out sentiment and raffia.

Take the raffia and wrap it around the end of the sentiment as shown.

Tie a knot with the raffia and trim off the excess.

Place your foam squares on the back to add dimension to the sentiment.

Remove the backing from the foam squares.

Place the sentiment on your card.

You have completed your card!

If you are here for the 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Hop, please check out the original blog hop post and be sure to answer the question to qualify to win HERE.

Thank you so much for joining us today and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop – fall2016clh

Welcome to the 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! If you happened to come by here by chance, WE ARE SO LUCKY and thrilled that you did!! We are taking part in the AWESOME 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! The hashtag is #fall2016clh and we are showcasing our love for Fall & COFFEE!! Fall is my FAVORITE TIME of the year.

It’s when you bring out your colder weather clothes and get to snuggle up on a cold crisp day… Well, that is unless you are in California like I am… Then you have to wait for what they call “Winter” here. I am from Chicago so winter isn’t quite the same here as it is in the Midwest. Whether it is hot chocolate, coffee, tea, or even a blended drink; you are going to really enjoy the 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

There are SO many AMAZING talented participants…. Sounds too good to be true, right? IT ISN’T! It is REALLY HAPPENING! We are really honored and excited to be one of the SUPER SPONSORS & FLASH PRIZE SPONSOR for this amazing blog hop! We also have our own giveaways right here on our blog! Be sure to read the WHOLE POST!

To start at the beginning of the 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop please click HERE.

The 2016 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop runs Friday, September 23 starting at 6:00 AM Pacific Time thru Friday, September 30. This allows you PLENTY of time to participate by hopping, creating or BOTH!

Winners for the entire hop will be announced on Sunday, October 2, 2016 HERE.

If you aren’t familiar with the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Group and would like to learn more, be sure to join their Facebook Group HERE to ensure you get the latest info on all of their blog hops! The group is SUPER fun with awesome creativity and inspiration throughout the year and of course.. GREAT SEASONAL HOPS with WONDERFUL COFFEE inspiration! We would hate for you to miss out om the inspiration and possibilities!!

Now, onto the projects we have for you today! The theme is Fall annnnnd …… COFFEE! First up is the AMAZINGLY talented Alena on our Creative Crew. She has created a coffee themed pocket letter using the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! stamp set. I LOVE how she used the phrases in the stamp set as an embellishment to her pocket page. Wait….You haven’t heard about a pocket letter? Let’s fill you in!

Pocket letters are a new and creative way of being a Pen Pal. Rather than a traditional letter in an envelope, you use 8.5″ x 11″ page protectors with nine equally sized pockets as shown. There are a number of ways you can create a pocket letter. You would include some of your Pen Pal’s favorite items as well a handmade note and some creative sweetness.

It’s like getting a little present with every pocket letter!

Some are really elaborate, others not as much but the great thing is and you can decide however you want to create it because it is YOUR DESIGN! I hope Alena has inspired you to be CREATIVE and try it out yourself! I know she has inspired me!

Now, we are moving on to our awesomely talented Creative Crew Member Brandie and her beautiful coffee card. Don’t you love the color scheme, design and finishing touches? I love how CREATIVE she was by using the Coffee is my Liquid Therapy stamp set. That along with the coffee themed embossing folder on her gray paper is amazing. Brnadie sanded the gray paper allowing the white core of the gray paper to show through! WOW!

She used her Chameleon Pens (alcohol markers) to color in the coffee cup. Love it!

Here we have the first creation created with Coffee is my Liquid Therapy.

I used Simple Stories paper along with my Chameleon Pens (alcohol markers)

to color the image. I added a little raffia and a button and here we have it!!

My second card was made using the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! stamp set.

For this creation I used Simple Stories paper along with my Chameleon Pens (alcohol markers) and

to color my image, I used raffia making a bow for an embellishment.

I am doing two giveaways on my blog! I will be picking two winners as I am giving away the two stamp sets I used for my creations above; Coffee is my Liquid Therapy and the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! stamp sets.

All you need to do is answer our question – When do you start creating your holiday cards? With your answer, comment below and I will pick three winners!

Our winners will be announced on our blog on Sunday, October 2, 2016.

Be sure to ANSWER THE QUESTION to qualify to enter.

This is open to everyone, not only the US! We are honored you have come to visit today. Don’t forget to use the

coupon code fclh2016 to save 25% on non sale items!

We hope you will subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Blog/Newsletter updates and check out our website! Happy Hopping and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop WINNERS

2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop WINNERS are being announced….. Can you stand it?? If you want to know about the winners for the entire hop, please check out the blog HERE. If it isn’t up yet, it will be posted sometime during Sunday. As you can imagine there is A LOT of info to gather and Amy does a fantastic job doing so. If you are looking to find out if you are a winner on my blog….. YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE! The 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop WINNERS are being announced here on our blog too!!! In order to be eligible, you needed to answer the question that was posed on the original post here which was:

What electronic die cut machine do you have if any and why did you choose it?

If you have read our story, I am always sure to include my “boys” in various business areas. Whether it is inventory, some of the creative opinions and ideas, or even telling me three numbers I need for the giveaway. Christian was the one who picked for this hop. I created a word doc with all of the comments that qualified. I then numbered them in the order in which they were on my blog and here are the winners!

Winner of the stamp set Weather Related is Tee Hall!

Tee Hall says:(Edit)

June 19, 2016 at 2:39 pm

I love your fun projects! I do not own a die cutting machine unfortunately! But I heard a lot of good things about the Cricut, so I would look into getting that one!

Winner of the stamp set Coffee is my Liquid Therapy is Kerry Urbatch!

Kerry Urbatch says:(Edit)

June 17, 2016 at 4:32 pm

Gorgeous Creations! I’m a fussy cutter at heart and don’t own an electronic diecutting system….YET! Thanks for being a super sponsor!

Winner of the stamp set Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY

Anne Sasko says:(Edit)

June 17, 2016 at 7:56 am

I have a Silhouette – can’t answer why I chose it! Seemed like a good idea at the time!

Thank you so much for hopping along this amazing hop and for checking to see if you are one of the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop WINNERS! If you are a winner, please be sure to send me an email at ACreativeJourneywithMelissa@gmail (dot) com with your complete mailing info so I can get your prize out to you.

Please be sure to subscribe to our blog above and our YouTube channel for our Mondays with Melissa series. We review products, tutorials, watch my Sizzix die cut machine break while I use it.. (yes it really happened in video two I believe) and often have a pictorial as well as a YouTube video for your reading and viewing pleasure!! It can be very entertaining!!

2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Welcome to the 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

If you happened to come by here by chance, you are SO LUCKY!! We are taking part in the AMAZING 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! The hashtag is #summerclh and we are showcasing our love for Summer & COFFEE!! Summer is a wonderful time where my kids are out of school, our pool is open for swimming, schedule is a bit less hectic and of course THAT leaves time for what you ask? MORE COFFEE!! Whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa; you are going to LOVE the 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and be VERY inspired by the many AMAZING talented participants…. Sounds great right? We are really honored and excited to be one of the SUPER SPONSORS & FLASH PRIZE SPONSOR for this amazing blog hop!

To start at the beginning of the 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop please click HERE.

The 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop runs Friday, June 17th starting at 6:00 AM Pacific Time thru Friday, June 24th. This allows you PLENTY of time to participate by hopping, creating or BOTH!

Winners for the entire hop will be announced on Sunday, June 26th HERE.

If you aren’t familiar with the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Group and would like to learn more, be sure to join their Facebook Group HERE to ensure you get the latest info on all of their blog hops! The group is SUPER fun with awesome creativity and inspiration throughout the year and of course.. GREAT SEASONAL HOPS with WONDERFUL COFFEE inspiration! We would hate for you to miss out!

Now, onto my projects! The theme is summer and of course… COFFEE!

I am a Midwestern girl that now lives in Sunny California…. One would think I would LOVE it because it is sunny 98.9% of the time… Well, I am from Chicago so I like four seasons… not one and half LOL! For me, one of the things I miss most of all is RAIN. I know I know but I REALLY DO! Anyone who really knows me, knows I like to dance around in my shorts in the rain. The thing is for me, summer DOES include rain and often times it does for most states throughout the US as well as some other countries. This is what inspired me to create with these stamp sets.

Thinking about my possible creations,

I knew I had an idea. I hoped it would work but couldn’t put it together. Often times I will ask my sons what their thoughts are.. well, I can thank my youngest, Austin, for this one! He verbalized what I was trying to do only MUCH BETTER! It really is a family business! If you want to read more about our story, go Here.

For my first 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop creation,

I used the cloud, rain drops and sun from the Weather Related stamp set. I used the coffee cup from the Coffee is my Liquid Therapy stamp set and the word Coffee from the Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY stamp set. For the stamp images and sentiments, I used Memento ink. To color the clouds, sun and coffee cup I used my Chameleon Pens. The light colors yet also the dark colors of gray making up colors of the clouds. AMAZING RIGHT.. all with ONE PEN! Those are the Chameleon Pens!! If you aren’t familiar with them, they are alcohol based pens/markers like Copic, Pro Markers, etc. but you can get multi colors from just ONE PEN! Check out my YouTube channel to see them in action!

For my second 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop project,

I used a sizzix embossing folder on some left over die cut packaging. I cut it to ensure it would fit through the Big Shot, placed the acrylic sheet inside and away I rolled… And this is what you have! I love it and it is one of my FAVORITE techniques to do so I save ALL of my clear packaging. SO MANY USES! I made this card because I think we all can agree there have been NUMEROUS times that people have lived another day because someone has gotten their coffee. As the card says… Coffee It saves lives. AND BOY DOES IT! To see a tutorial on this project, please go to my blog post here. We have both a pictorial and video!

For my last 2016 Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop project,

I created a quick and cute coffee clip for a planner, journal, smash book, calendar, composition book and whatever use you would need it for! It is super easy to make and you can make numerous ones all at the same time! It’s a great idea for a gift! Everyone loves coffee, right? I used a cool product that I fortunately had some left as it is no longer made. It is called sparkle and fluff. That is what is coloring the coffee cup. It reminded me of some beautiful summer green grass… and AGAIN IN THE MIDWEST and definitely opposite to here in SUNNY CALIFORNIA.. Where the grass is B R O W N! LOL Of course any cup of coffee whether visable or not always has a few little hearts above it, right? At least mine do!

I am doing three giveaways on my blog! I will be picking three winners. I am giving away the three stamp sets I used for my creations; Weather Related, Coffee is my Liquid Therapy and Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY!. All you need to do is answer this: What electronic die cut machine do you have if any and why did you choose it? With your answer, comment below and I will pick three winners! They will be announced on our blog on Sunday, June 26th. Be sure to ANSWER THE QUESTION to qualify to enter. This is open to everyone, not only the US. The winners from our blog giveaway have been announced . Click HERE to see if you are a winner!

We are honored you have come to visit today. Don’t forget to use the coupon code SCLH20 to save 20% on non sale items! We hope you will subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Blog/Newsletter updates and check out our website! Happy Hopping and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

Creating Grass Technique with Chameleon Pens plus Winners

Creating Grass Technique with Chameleon Pens plus Winners is what we have for you today. It is such a simple technique that you may want to use it for borders, shading and who knows what else! We do not have a pictorial for this technique this time as it is too difficult to get the technique across in pictures. We hope you enjoy the Creating Grass Technique with Chameleon Pens video above and we would love to hear if there are any techniques, ideas or questions you have about your Chameleon Pens. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube Channel, be sure to do so! We have all different techniques, tutorials, etc that you won’t want to miss out on! We have a great deal going on with our Chameleon Pens in our store. They are on sale with US priority shipping included!

Now, for our 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop WINNERS! For our blog, we have the following winner for the $25.00 Gift Certificates for our store :

Denise Bryantsays:

March 23, 2016 at 11:27 am

Awesome coffee themed cards! Thank you for being a sponsor of this fun hop!

I love dies that coordinate with stamps! I don’t have an electronic cutter of any type, so dies are my preference!

Congrats Denise! Please contact me with your e-mail address so that I can issue your $25.00 credit! Once again, thank you for your input and for hopping along with us!

Now for the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop WINNERS!! There are a BUNCH of winners so please go HERE and check to see if you have won any of the amazing prizes! We had so many people participate! A HUGE THANK YOU TO Amy & Chaitali for all of their hard work in front of and behind the scenes for this great hop! AWESOME WORK LADIES!

A PERFECT Coffee Card to celebrate the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop

A PERFECT Coffee Card to celebrate the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop is what we have for you today. I am so honored and excited to be participating in this amazing week long hop! There are so many amazing sponsors and prizes! We are honored that we are one of the flash prize and SUPER SPONSORS! If you want more information about the hop and the details, be sure to go here so that you can start at the beginning with ALL of the info! You can even create something YOURSELF and win prizes for that as well! Be sure to check it out… It doesn’t end until FRIDAY so you have PLENTY OF TIME!! Now, onto my creation

Supplies Needed

Coffee is my Liquid Therapy Stamp Set

Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! Stamp Set

Stamping Block

Chameleon Pens

Black and Red Memento Ink

Card Base

Red mat for sentiment

Adhesive

3-D adhesive

Black and white twine

Corner Rounder

Scissors

A PERFECT Coffee Card to celebrate the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop is what we are creating today. Although it may not be a typical SPRING card. I LOVE bright colors and to me, it is a PERFECT color match for MY SPRING!

First, you will want to get your stamp sets out, ink, stamp blocks and paper.

Attach your stamp sentiments to the block, ink and stamp your sentiments on your paper.

Remove your sentiment stamps. Attach your coffee cup stamp. Ink your stamp and stamp your coffee cup above your sentiment.

Remove your coffee cup stamp and place your heart stamp from the Coffee is my Liquid Therapy stamp set on your block. Ink with your red ink and stamp on your coffee cup.

Take out your BL3 Chameleon Pen.

Color your coffee cup image.

Use your corner rounder on the right side of your sentiment paper.

Take out your red paper and use the corner rounder on all four sides.

Take out your card base and use the corner rounder only on the right side of the card.

Adhere the red paper to the blue card base.

Take out your twine and wrap your twine around your sentiment paper three times.

Tie a bow with your twine and trim the excess.

Place six foam squares on the back of your sentiment. Remove the backing of the foam squares.

Adhere your sentiment paper to your card base.

Here are the completed projects! Thank you so much for joining us for A PERFECT Coffee Card to celebrate the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop. We hope you check out the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Hop and enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

If you are looking for our Instagram Hop, New Autism Awareness and Coffee, Tea and Wine – OH MY! Stamp Releases for the #ACJwMIGHop2, please join us HERE for further details.

Welcome to the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! If you happened to come by here by chance, you are in LUCK! We are taking part in an AWESOME Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! The hashtag is #springclh and we are showcasing our love for Spring & COFFEE!! Who doesn’t LOVE SPRING and COFFEE? Well that is EXACTLY what we are celebrating! Whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa; you are going to LOVE this hop and be VERY inspired by the many AMAZING talented participants…. Sounds great right? We are really honored and excited to be one of the SUPER SPONSORS & FLASH PRIZE SPONSOR for this amazing blog hop AND we are also doing a giveaway RIGHT HERE!!

To start at the beginning of the 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop please click HERE.

The 2016 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop runs Friday, March 18 starting at 6:00 AM Pacific Time thru Friday, March 25.

Winners announced on March 27th on the Coffee Lovers Blog HERE.

If you aren’t familiar with the Coffee Loving Paper Crafters Group and would like to learn more, be sure to join their Facebook Group HERE to ensure you get the latest info on all of their blog hops! The group is SUPER fun with awesome creativity and inspiration throughout the year and of course.. GREAT HOPS with SUPER SPECTACULAR PRIZES! We would hate for you to miss out!

Now onto some CREATIVE Fun stuff from Brandie and Leticia on the A Creative Journey with Melissa Creative Crew!

First, we have Brandie’s projects. I love her sweet and simple design. The colors are so soft, sweet and reminds me of Spring! Using the sentiment as the main focus of the project works perfectly as well as the ink around the edges for added dimension.

Brandie a wm

Here is Brandie’s second project. I love how she used the same paper but highlighted different colors in this project. She also stamped the word “Tea” in a matching color of the paper used! Great job Brandie!

brandie b wm

Now we have Leticia’s creations. I love how she used the dual colored twine, flower and paper doily to accent the stamped image of the mug. The color scheme is so bright and cheery!

For Leticia’s second project, she created this adorable card. She used the burlap for a banner look and then adding the yellow ribbon, white yarn and jute twine as the perfect finishing touch to her project. Great job Leticia!

For our blog, we are giving away $25.00 credit to our store! This is in ADDITION to all of the other prizes that are to be given away! We will announce the winner from our blog on Monday March 28th. To be entered in the giveaway, all you need to do is post your answer to this question on this blog post: Do you like matching dies with your stamps, use SVG’s, none of the above or something else? We would love to hear form you! If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry. All comments are held for review.

Thanks for joining us and we hope the creations have inspired you to create something springy and coffee, tea or cocoa themed! Feel inspired? Why not participate? Be sure to get your creative juices flowing and create something that is Spring coffee/tea/cocoa themed. You could link up to enter for some amazing prizes using the inlinkz link on the Coffee Lovers Blog. All of the info needed can be found HERE! If you post on social media be sure to use the hashtag #Springclh for all of your creations as well! Be sure to hop along to all of the other amazing creatives for inspiration and the opportunity to win great prizes along the way! Thank you so much for joining us!