Wednesday, December 10, 2014

holiday coffee lovers' blog hop? yes, please!

my lovely friend amy tsuruta told me about her awesome holiday coffee lovers' blog hop, so of course i had to play along! you can, too, and i think you might like to, because there are prizes galore! all you have to do is make a new project which references coffee, (or your other favorite hot holiday beverage) link it up on amy's blog, and leave feedback for at least three of your fellow players. easy peasy, right?! now, in my opinion, NOBODY beats miss amy when it comes to rockin' the coffee-related cards, she is the queen of that genre; so i didn't even try to compete. but it just so happened that on the same day i heard about the hop, i received a christmassy catalog in the mail which had the cuuuuuuuuuuuutest holiday cocoa mugs in it, so of course my first thought was, "those would look great on a card!" for the record, i stand by that judgement.

photo of mugs from a catalog, backed w/cardstock and fussy-cut; patterned paper: studio calico, oct afternoon, dcwv and basic grey; ribbon: making memories; doily die: cheery lynn designs; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape runner, scotch gluestick, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

seeing as how i was already thinking about amy t and card-making, it occurred to me that i hadn't got to play in the last two challenges at fusion, and i was really missing that. imagine how psyched i was when i realized the colors and shapes of said cocoa mugs would let me play along pretty easily with the current challenge!


another optional facet of the blog hop is to add in a little blog candy or share a favorite beverage recipe. now i do looooooooooove me a fancy coffee drink, especially one that tastes like the kind you get at starbucks, but without a gazzillion calories. so i was pretty psyched when my sister found this recipe on the hungry girl website. my secret to making it even easier is that i always have cold coffee and coffee ice cubes on hand. does that sound fussy? well, it isn't, honestly! instead of tossing out the leftover coffee each morning i just pour it into a pitcher that lives in my fridge. then, maybe once a week, i make a tray of ice cubes* with any coffee that's left in the fridge, wash the pitcher, and start over. thus iced coffee is never more than a few minutes away!

here's my lazy-girl version of 

ingredients:
1/4 c. light soymilk 
1 tbsp. hershey's sugar free chocolate syrup
1 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
12-16 oz. cold coffee (or about 2/3 the size of your favorite travel mug)
coffee ice cubes

optional topping:
1/4 cup fat free whipped topping
1 1/2 tsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
maraschino cherry

directions: 
place soymilk, cherry juice and syrup in the bottom of your favorite travel mug or large glass and stir until they are well-combined. add cold coffee and continue stirring, leaving a little room for ice cubes, and the topping if desired. enjoy at home or in the car! ps: there are a million variations on this idea, you can use any type of syrup paired with any flavor of soymilk or creamer you enjoy!

and now why not check out all the details on facebook or amy's blog and start planning your own bid for holiday coffee-loving world domination?

*it's the essential oils in coffee which give it the lovely fragrance and flavor, but they do leave a very faint residue on plastic kitchen items. thus i have one specific ice cube tray, and one specific pitcher, that i only use for coffee.

**i don't like very sweet drinks, at starbrucks i ask for HALF the amount of syrup in pretty much any beverage, so you might like to add a little more syrup than i do!

47 comments:

  1. Super creative endeavor!! Love it! And love your blog name!!

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  2. What a great card! So glad you hopped along! Merry Christmas!

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  3. cute, thank you for the recipe

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  4. what a fun coffee card!! CUTE!!! fun recipe!!

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  5. Coffee ice cubes? Brilliant! Love how you found a use for the catalog too.

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  6. Super cute card - love the recipe! Sounds scrumptious!

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  7. Well your judgment isn't off - those images sure did turn into a cute design element on this AMAZING card! Thanks for the recipe!

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  8. Super cute card!!! Thank you for the recipe!

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  9. Now that's fun adding those images from a magazine! Love your digi card. Thank goodness I'm not a robot and can type the number 10402. LOL

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  10. What a FUN card...leave it to you to clip the photos out....they are wonderful! Love how you were inspired by Fusion :)
    Thanks for linking up to the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop♡

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  11. I agree...they look great pm a card!! The doily you added are great. What a clever card.

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  12. Love how you've used the Fusion sketch here - what a great idea to use the catalog images! they look lovely here! thanks for joining in the Fusion Challenge!

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  13. Your mugs look great! Love you card! Merry Christmas!

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  14. Love the cutout images! They look great on a card!

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  15. This is adorable. Love how you saw potential in the catalog. Great card.

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  16. What a fun post. Love your card. I did all my Christmas cards one year incorporating glossy photos from mags. And I love your recipe.

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  17. WOW, awesome!! Love it, Thanks for joining us at FUSION!!!!!
    And if you have not already, love you to stop by as I have some blog candy on my blog !! WPLUS9....More fresh cuts Stamp Set!!
    oloughlin.ka at Gmail.com

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  18. I looooove how you salvage all these cute images and make them look so fabby on cards!

    And yeah, I don't do sweet, either, but now I'm thinking about my tart cherry concentrate as an option ... hmmm ...

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  19. I can see why you loved those images! Love the way you used them on your card!
    Happy Holidays!
    Hugs, Debbie!

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  20. Your blog name cracks me up! And this card is just too stinking cute!

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  21. This is such a cute idea and that recipe looks YUMMY!

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  22. What a cute idea to use mugs from a catalog.

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  23. What a clever idea! Really adds dimension to your card - super cute! Hugs, Jenny

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  24. Adorable! Love the fun images and the way you used the fusion sketch!

    Java happy day and Merry Christmas.
    Heather Dennis

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  25. Yes they are impressive cups, love your card.

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  26. What a fun card, Lauren, you always have wonderful cards! Happy Holidays again!

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  27. fun card and thanks for the coffee recipe!

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  28. OK, SUPER FABULOUS card Lauren - PERFECT upcycling! So glad you managed to combine coffee and FUSION! Thanks for sharing :)
    I'd love if you stopped by my blog for a chance of some blog candy too http://lyndalhiggins.blogspot.com.au

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  29. Such a creative card, Lauren. Love the mugs :-)

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  30. Thanks for sharing your CUTE card.
    Crafty hugs,
    D~
    DesignsByDragonfly.blogspot
    dmcardmaker{at}{AOL}{dot}{COM}

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  31. oh my gosh!! what a great idea to use your inspiration from the magazine ON YOUR CARD!!! genius!! and i LOVE the stitching around the edges!! it looks fabulous!! wow!!

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  32. Fusion Fabulous ... love how you recycled your magazine ... it has a super-cool 3-D look on my screen.

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  33. I came to congratulate you on the Honorable Mention from Fusion, Lauren, and I see that you are one of the coffee hoppers that I missed commenting on. Your upcycled card is awesome and thank you for the bonus of the recipe!! Happy Holiday Hugs! Darnell

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the *BEST* part of blogging is the comments, dontcha think? thanks for taking time to leave one! ~♥~