Nina's Southern Accents: Brown Paper Packages, Small Stamps, and Merry Cafe-Let's Get Hopping Round 4

Hi Friends!

I'm so glad you are joining us for our hop featuring "Small Stamps." When Jen Frost announced the theme, my mind immediately went to the "Merry Cafe" stamp set. It has a ton of small stamps. It was one of the first sets I ordered from the 2017 Holiday Catalog, because, well, it has to do with coffee, and if you know anything at all about me, you know I love coffee. I can drink it 24/7. The stamp set also coordinates with the Coffee Cup Framelet Dies in the 2017-18 Annual Catalog.

When I was planning my project, I decided to make a card and gift tag for some friends that I am giving, you guessed it, coffee!! (It's a box of K-cups.) I love the simplicity of brown kraft paper, and the plaid paper from the Merry Little Christmas DSP made a perfect belly band around the package.

I made my flower bow with the Burlap Ribbon. I cut 7 five inch strips, wrapped them in the middle with floral wire, and added one of our Clear Faceted Gems colored with the Dark Cherry Cobbler Blends marker.

Now on to the small stamps! The snowflakes in the set fit perfectly in the plaid squares, so I heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I did this on a piece I used for the sleeve of my cup, and also on the strip of DSP I layered on my card. The sentiments for the tag and card were stamped in Cherry Cobbler onto Crumb Cake card stock. I stamped the little holly leaves and berries on the cup as a background with Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler ink. I used the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, and the To and From stamps came from another favorite set, Oh What Fun, in the Annual Catalog. I added some Linen Thread, and scraps of the Cherry Cobbler Double Stitched Ribbon.

For my card, I used a Crumb Cake card base. This rustic look called for some of that beautiful Wood Textures DSP. I made a background on a 4"x5-1/4" piece with several of the small stamps in the set heat embossed with white embossing powder.

The coffee cup was stamped in Early Espresso and cut out with the framelet from the Coffee Cups Framelets. The lid and sleeve are Basic Black. And did you know that several of those small stamps are two-step stamps? The berries on the coffee cup are stamped with Early Espresso for the outline, and Cherry Cobbler for the berries. I finished off the card with a bow made from the Cherry Cobbler Double Stitched Ribbon. I also added a row of snowflakes to the inside of my card, along with another sentiment from the set.

Now you just cannot make a card without a matching envelope! I embossed a row of snowflakes onto a Crumb Cake envelope (these are retired folks, so sorry! PS I want them back!!) I added a strip of DSP to the flap to tie it all together. Just glue a piece of DSP larger than the flap, then trim away the edges.

So I know you are dying to know what was the biggest small stamp I used, and what was the smallest....besides the coffee cup, the CHEER sentiment and the inside sentiment, "and a Happy New Year," were the biggest, both measuring 1-3/8" x 1/2". The smallest was that little tiny holly leaf I used on the cup on the tag. It measured approximately 1/2"x1/4".

So I hope this gave you inspiration to look at your sets that have those small stamps, and give them some love!

Now hop on over to Diana Tillery and see what she has created to inspire you! I know you are going to love her project!

If you loved the Merry Cafe stamp set, it is retiring! Today (December 21) is the last day to order any of the retiring sets out of the 2017 Holiday Catalog. After today, they are only while supplies last until January 2. The Merry Little Christmas is available while supplies last as well. All other supplies are in the 2017-18 Annual Catalog. Click on the links below to order any of the products from my online store. Again, thanks for stopping by my blog.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Love,

Nina

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