Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - Take 1

What gets me more jazzed than than the first sip of hazelnut vanilla coffee on a 30 below, frigid North Dakota winter morning?! ...Well, nothing, actually. 

Point in case? This photo taken at the local IHOP:

A giant cuppa with extra whipped cream - I don't get much happier!
BUT what gets me allllllmost as jazzed is the internet sensation known as the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop. 

And it's back! The brainchild of the one-woman wonder and organizational mastermind, Amy Tsurata, the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop brings together caffeine-craving paper crafters from around the blogosphere in a one-week frenzy of goodness. The hop starts today - so go whip up your card and join in! 

Amy told us that our creations should be Spring themed. Now, there's lots of ways to interpret Spring... In North Dakota, Spring is equated with gooey mud. Everywhere. And a groundhog who ALWAYS sees his shadow. Sigh* Since I didn't think that would be so cute on a card, I decided to go with option B - which is something really bright and cheerful. Hey - a girl can dream. 

I started by hand drawing a Coffee chalkboard-esque sign, using these new markers I just got called Chalk Magic. 

After experimenting, I found that these markers give some of the best coverage that I've gotten from a chalk marker/white marker thus far. I bought them because the white markers I have tend to get clogged up and leave weird blotches in places. These had a very smooth flow. They were created by a family-owned company for use in crafty projects and are meant to be erasable on non-porous surfaces. Since I was using it on card stock, however, they stayed just dandily (I don't care if it's not a word, spellcheck, I like it.) I have to say that I wish the nibs were a little smaller, for detail work, but overall I was impressed. 

Next, I stamped a mug from Two Paper Divas "You Warm My Heart" stamp set. Since I won the set in the Christmas blog hop, I thought it would be only fair to show it off here. It's such a cute set and it's the exact type of coffee I like to drink - with lots of whipped cream! 

I added some amazingly bright paper and Voila!! A card! 

I'm going to support the following awesome challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - Spring
The Challenge - Thanks for the great sketch!


I won't keep you for too much longer, other than to say that you should totally go play along at the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop because they have over 20 sponsors and you can win lots and lots of cool things. Be sure to hop along and leave encouraging comments, too, because there are a lot of people who will be offering up some blog candy. 

Like me!! 
I've got a pretty sweet prize package consisting of a Wendy Vecchi stencil, a chevron embossing folder, some metal feather embellishments, and a Prima sketchy word stamp. 

If you'd like to win it, leave me a comment and  >>>>include your email<<<<. You don't have to be a follower of my blog to win, but you'll get an extra entry if you are! :) Plus, I'm pretty cool (and humble) and will probably come give you a follow back. 

Happy hopping, my friends! May your sips be long and may your brew be strong!