January 2017 Curl E. Q&A: Where I Disappeared To, LuLaRoe and Mermaid Hair

Hello, my friends!  I'm popping in between busy-ness to post a Curl E. Q&A for January!  I know a lot of you are curious about where the heck I've been the last few months so I thought I'd take a moment to share with you all what's been going on with me and what to expect on my blog and YouTube channel in 2017!

Enjoy!

MFT Sketch Challenge #314: Zest Friends

Good evening, all!  So don't get too used to this two posts in one day thing because I can't possibly keep up this pace but my kiddo was home sick today so while I was hanging out with her I took advantage of the unexpected free time and made some cards!  I have a goal to make more clean and simple cards - not every card has to be a masterpiece!  My tendency is to want to make each project super elaborate and that can get exhausting by sucking up a lot of time and creative energy!  Plus I put a lot of pressure on myself to make each card better than the last!  But the reality is, any time that I take to be creative is already a win so why am I stressing myself out with these self-imposed expectations??  So in 2017 I'm going to stop!  And this is my first clean and simple card for the new year and I gotta say I LOVE IT!!

I have had the Kitschy Kitchen Card Kit from My Favorite Things for awhile now (it is sold out right now but I promise to update supply links when these stamp sets become available for individual purchase) and I was so excited to bust it out today!  My inspiration was the MFT Sketch Challenge #314.  This sketch lent itself perfectly to clean and simple!  Plus, solid stamps equals no coloring and what gets more simple than that?!

I was going for a retro feel for this card so I kept it to only two colors - yellow and white.  The paper fibers in the cardstock add a little something extra while the embossed polka dots and the vellum scallops kept the design quaint and cozy!  On a simple design like this the little extras make a big difference!  I used my sparkle pen  on the lemons, some Nuvo Crystal Drops in the center of the flowers and then added some white highlights.  These details took the card from good to fabulous (in my humble opinion anyway!)

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy, clean and simple card!  The MFT Sketch Challenge #314 is still open for a few more days so head on over and play along!  Thank you guys so much and I'll see you next time!  Bye!

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Coffee Gift Cards featuring Joy Clair Stamps (I Missed You Guys!)

Hello, friends!  Man does it feel good to be back with you all!  New year, fresh start!  Thank you so much for hanging with me during my long and unexpected absence.  I promise that a Curl E. Q&A video will be posted soon with a lot more details (probably more than you want) about what I've been up to and what exciting turns my life has taken and what it all means for my blog and YouTube channel but bottom line is that I am back and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon!  I'm thinking the videos might slow down a bit but my goal is at least one video a week, more when time allows, and I'm hoping that I will do more straight blog posts since they take less time to put together and that way I can stay in touch with you all!

So now that that is out of the way, let's dive into these fun coffee gift cards I created for my hubby to give to the choreographer and costumer on his musical that opens next week!  These amazing stamps were sent to me by Christy at Joy Clair Stamps and I gotta tell you guys, I am in love!  This Coffee Love stamp set is one of the best I've seen - the fonts are just so perfect and remind me of Central Perk on Friends!

I used a gift card die to cut the grooves on the inside of the card to hold a gift card and cut some beautiful patterned papers from My Mind's Eye using the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Hexagon dies to create a fun layout.  VersaMark ink allowed me to stamp that snazzy coffee sentiment all over the card base and get a tone-on-tone look.  Love using VersaMark for watermarking!

I love the finished product and hope you all enjoy the video!  I got a brand new Yeti microphone from the hubs for Christmas and I am super impressed with the audio quality!  I had no idea what I was missing!  Again, thank you so much for sticking with me and I hope you all had an amazing holiday season if you celebrate and a great couple of months if you don't!  See you again soon!

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