I Forgot What?

Here’s the big news for today. Although Stampin’ Up!’s Online Extravaganza ended yesterday, for today only (Monday, November 27) you can enjoy free shipping on all orders! If you have anything on your wish list, you’re going to want to order today to save 10%. The best way is to order online to be sure your order is placed before 11:59 p.m. MT. Please use the hostess code YU4NNE2B.

Stampin’ Up! has a super cute coffee cup stamp set called Coffee Café. Of course, there are coordinating Coffee Cups Framelits dies, and if you purchase both as a bundle, you’ll save 10%.

Since I enjoy the occasional cup of coffee (ok, by occasional, I mean I drink a cup about every 15 minutes for the first several hours that I’m awake. And sometimes a little longer.), I ordered this bundle. (Side note: I asked Mike, “How many people do you think will laugh at “occasional cup of coffee?” Mike: “Um, anyone who knows you.” Oh, the man is so funny. He has kept me laughing for years. Since today is our 35th anniversary, I’m looking forward to laughing for years to come!)

There are a lot of other super fun elements in this suite, including the Coffee Break Designer Series Paper, and beautiful Classic Weave Ribbon in Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, and Whisper White.

Before I show you my card, I have to give the “back story.” Mike & I had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with most of the kids and Mike’s mom. Our plan was to leave for the mountains after dinner, but we were both exhausted. I’m not sure why I was; Mike cooked all of dinner except for the mac & cheese which I made Wednesday night, and the delicious Keto friendly pumpkin pie and spice cake that Adrianna brought. So early Friday morning, we headed south. I had packed all my clothes and stamping supplies for the trip on Thursday, so I was ready to go. All we had to do was gather food, which was simple, because all the leftovers were in containers ready to go.

Since I have several concerts coming up in the next few weeks, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to run through music for four days, so Mike suggested we take a keyboard to the mountain house and leave it there. Good plan! Except the keyboard is a bit large, and it took up the space I usually reserve for my craft supplies. Instead of the three or four bags and a Big Shot, I trimmed my stash to a mere two bags. No Big Shot. No accessories. Just the basics – stamps, ink, paper, a little adhesive, and one punch. (I also brought my watercolor pencils and Stampin’ Write Markers, but I call those “ink.”) But now I always have something to practice on when we “retreat.”

We had leftovers for lunch and dinner Friday, and enjoyed a very restful afternoon and evening. The best thing about our little retreat is that we never set an alarm. We wake up when we wake up (or when the cat wakes us up). Mike, of course, usually gets up first and makes coffee. (I love that man! This has been the best 35 years of my life. And not just because of the coffee.) Saturday was no different. He came back into the bedroom with a mug in his hand, and then said the five most horrible words ever, “You forgot to pack coffee.”

I what? I never forget coffee. It’s the first thing in the food bag. We order our coffee online from Camano Island Coffee Roasters. It’s roasted the same day it ships, and it’s the best. How could I forget? But I did. (I did, however, remember to pack my French Press. Which, of course, is useless without coffee.)

Fortunately we have a Keurig at the house, and there were some coffee pods here from a previous visit. As Mike said when he brought me my first cup, “I’m not sure how good these are; they’re kind of old.” Yes, they were. And the coffee in pods is already “pre-stale” so it won’t explode the pods. So after several years – super stale.

So there you are. I spent an entire long weekend with old coffee. And, yes, I know we could have gone out for more, but neither of us wanted to leave and go shopping. And it wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t even close to Camano Island, but I just kept telling myself I was “roughing it.” I was already working with minimal stamp supplies, wasn’t I? How difficult could it be to start the day with average coffee? (Answer: As difficult as stamping with minimal stamp supplies. “Roughing it” isn’t for the faint of heart.)

So here’s the card inspired by my weekend of Spartan living.

The cup, the sleeve, the lid, and the little coffee pot in the corner – all fussy cut, because although I have the Coffee Cups Framelits, I don’t have them (or a Big Shot) here. I used the Coffee Cafe’ stamp set, the Coffee Break DSP, as well as the Everyday Label Punch from the Holiday Catalog. Since the punched element is kind of hidden behind the coffee cup, I could have punched two and layered them. But instead, I elongated it by cutting the Pear Pizzazz cardstock at 4-1/4″ x 1-1/2″, then pulling the end I didn’t want to punch out of the punch. Like this.

Then simply repeat for the other side. Easy!

Susan Horr, you will be happy to know that I did not have even one meltdown when I found out there was no coffee. (Of course, had we not had leftover pods, that might have been a different story. We’ll never know, thank goodness!)

By the way, there’s another set – Merry Café – in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog that’s perfect for fall and winter cards. It also coordinates with the Coffee Cups Framelits. You still have another month to enjoy the Holiday catalog – and you’ll want to order today to enjoy free shipping!

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy! I hope you have a lovely day.

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