The Happy Room

CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW!!!

Hello papercrafting friends and Michael Strong fans! Welcome to my blog and my "Coffee" themed project for the enjoymichaelstrongstamps Yahoo Group circular blog hop. What's a circular blog hop? It means you can start from ANY blog on the hop and continue through all 9 blogs until you're back where you began. If I'm the first stop on your tour, be sure to visit all of my Michael Strong Group friends and see their fantastic creations using (at least one) Michael Strong stamps. This hop crosses the globe, so if you reach a blog and there isn't a coffee themed project, please re-visit as those bloggers may be in another far away time zone. =)

Our coffee theme is in honor of our group leader and my dear friend, Hetty Sanders. Hetty lives in The Netherlands, but she's only a click away from me on my computer, so Hetty and I visit regularly (and we’ve even been lucky enough to meet in person one time. HI HETTY!). Hetty is a real coffee lover, so hence, the coffee theme.

My card is made using two Michael Strong stamps. The coffee cup itself was made by cutting the Cloisonne Pot image apart, separating the lid from the main body of the pot. The cup handle was made by stamping and embossing the large Cloisonne Vase image and cutting out the handle on it, then taping it to the backside of my cup!! Clever, huh?

My card design is called a Center Step card. I got the instructions from Splitcoaststampers HERE, although I made my card a little bigger (6" wide rather than 5 1/2" wide).

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoy the next stop on the hop at Bev Allaire's blog--click HERE to see her fantastic project!!

~Kathie

What is Faux Encaustic Wax? It's my version of melting cheap crayons instead of using "real" encaustic wax! I bought a new little iron at WalMart (craft section of the store, 10.00) and decided to try my hand at wax. With a tutorial from a stamping friend and a few YouTube videos, and I was well on my way to creating some backgrounds.

I had so much fun melting crayons and "painting" with my iron and old, broken crayons. This background uses regular white cardstock. The patterns are unpredictable (unless there's some experience which was not the case with me) and can be shaped and melted and re-done at the artist's discretion.

Since this piece looked "ocean-y" to me, I paired it up with a Michael Strong Cloisonne Fish image and backed the fish with some English Ivy Fantasty Fiber from Art Institute Glitter. The fish is colored with a Technique Junkies technique called "Pencil Over Marker" and I added some Stickles Glitter and a gem to his eye to complete the image. The corners are Cuttlebug die cuts and the stick-on gems are from JoAnn Etc.

Thanks for stopping by today and have a fin-tastic weekend!!

Kathie