Blog Hop Day Two: More Scenes in a Sip

 

Day Two of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Here's another scene in a sip!

This one has an embossed sweater knit panel in the background. 

I was inspired by this week's Starbucks treat: Peppermint Mocha Latte and Cranberry Bliss Bar! Yum!

Stay caffeinated, friends!

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2026

 

Today's the day! It's the beginning of the Fall Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

And I have some caffeinated inspiration to share with you today!

I've been playing with Altenew's Scenes in a Sip stamps and dies, pairing them with some different backgrounds and color combos. 

This one combines one of my favorite color combos: red and aqua!

There's a lot of sparkle on this card! I used Catherine Pooler's Sweater Weather background stamp, and embossed it with WOW's Sparkling Snow embossing powder. The latte scene also has a touch of Wink of Stella. 

More coffee cards to come!

What I've Been Reading Lately

 

Shorter days, cooler nights. It's the perfect time to get cozy with a good book.

I thought I'd share a few I've read recently.

First up: I read the second and third installments of Kristen Perrin's Castle Knoll mystery series, and they were both great. They had me guessing right until the very end. I like the way that she's woven different story lines and characters throughout the books. 

Two more Agatha Christie novels. Destination Unknown was very unique. It felt a bit like a Cold War spy novel, with lots of foreign travel and intrigue. And the murder? Well, it doesn't reveal itself until the very end.

This was a funny, sweet little book about a lonely woman who befriends a mouse. And that leads to befriending others. 

This was an interesting family saga that involves characters with a "gift" of mental telepathy.

And when I just need a mental break, it's always lovely to have a warm cuppa and a nice magazine on hand.

I have a few requests of new titles from the library that I am anxious to read:

The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley

Dead Before Tea Time by M.C. Beaton and R.W. Green

The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City by Susanna Clarke

And here's the next one in the cue. By the way, check out that gorgeous bookmark on the left that the library was giving out for free at the check out desk! LOVE it!

Heading to the library later today...because you can never have too many books on the TBR pile.

And Just Like That...November!

 

It seems like we flipped the page on the calendar, and instantly it became Novemberish outside, too.

Shorter days, gray skies, fallen leaves. It's lovely, in its subtle beauty.

I finally got to play with some new Shortbread Shapes supplies from The Greetery.

I think I'll make a stack of these cards and pair them with homemade shortbread cookies for Thanksgiving gifts.

Happy November!

Ready for Trick or Treaters

 

I got the front porch ready for Trick or Treaters this week. We typically get around 50 to 60 kids that stop by. I think families tend to go to Halloween events like Trunk or Treats or Boo Bash or shopping mall promotions. That's fine by me. Have you seen the price of candy these days? Yikes!

I found this door mat insert at Mom's house and brought it home. Love it! (I'm sure I bought it for her years ago.)

This old crow got a black paint touch up. He was looking a little worse for the wear, but now he's sporting some prettier feathers.

This glowing Jack-o-Lantern was a gift from my step MIL many years ago, and I love it. It gives the fun glowing pumpkin vibes without the work of pumpkin carving.

Treat bags have been assembled and hidden from husband. Ready to greet all the Disney Princesses and Super Heroes.

Happy Halloween!

Inheriting a Craft Room

 

When a loved one who was a crafter goes to her heavenly home, you have to decide what will happen with her art supplies. Suddenly, all those UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) need new homes. What do you keep? What do you toss? What do you donate?

In the past five years, I've inherited crafty items from my sister, Tina, and now my mother as well. And a lot of it is really wonderful stuff. But the more I bring home to my own craft room, the more I realize that I need to sort and organize and pare down and clean out.

It's been a week.

I finally got all of the bins out and made sense of everything. I made labels. I filled garbage bags. I filled donation boxes. And I'm finally seeing some progress.

I went through patterns and organized them into binders with plastic sleeves. This was my sister's system, so I just organized each binder. One binder for fall projects, one binder for Christmas and winter, and another binder for all seasons.

Here's a project my Mom had almost finished:

This kit totally encapsulates my sister's sense of humor:

I remember Tina having a whole series of these alphabet samplers for the seasons in her home:

And then there's the DMC floss, the Gentle Arts floss, the Weeks Dye Works floss:

Sometimes, just seeing my sister's handwriting on these items gets me all choked up.

I played Christmas music as I cleaned to lighten the mood. But I can be honest with you, it's made me a little blue. So many memories of all the wonderful shops we would visit together. So many fun projects we would make for each other. So many good memories, but such a sense of loss.

I can't help but wonder: What about my own craft stash? What can I do to lighten the load?

I have a tote of stamps from myself and my Mom that need to find homes.

We've lost three parents in less than five years, and with that comes a LOT of stuff. We are nearly finished cleaning my Mom's house, and every time I go I promise myself I won't bring anything home. Well, you know what happens. One thing goes in the car, and then ten more things.

The house was getting pretty cluttered.

I have boxes filled for the sons to take home the next time they come to town, too.

I went through closets and drawers and storage this week, and donated a lot of things that we were no longer using or needing. It's feeling a little lighter, and that's good.

One day soon, I'll show you a few sweet treasures from Mom's place that have made it into our home. It's a good thing I like cottage core because it's looking more Granny chic every day.

Now that the craft room is looking tidy, I think I will try to mess it up again with some crafting tonight. I have some new products from the Greetery that I've been wanting to play with, and lots more Christmas cards that need to be made.

Inspired By ...a Napkin?

 

I was grocery shopping with my husband one day this month (IYKYK). He looked in the cart, pointed to these napkins and said "What are those for?"

"To make me happy!" was my reply.

And they do!

This weekend was our annual celebration in honor of Church Worker Appreciation month. Many know me as the coffee lady at church. I make sure the KCup carousel is stocked and the fancy creamers are in the fridge.

For our special brunch, I decided to put out a PSL station:

I used the mug die from Catherine Pooler, along with some C and 9th pumpkin dies:

I think I purchased this C and 9th set from fellow crafter Amy Tsuruta, and she included a little bag of pre-cut dies. It was a lifesaver this weekend!

Next up: gifts for the pastors! If you've been to the cafe for any length of time, you know that I love a good theme gift. I've had donut themes, pie themes, and last year's jam theme. This time, I embraced the coffee theme. I made them all this card:

I used a sentiment from a MFT stamp set. Originally, it says "Let's have a coffee break", but I just omitted the "Let's" when inking the stamp. Worked great!

And here's the inside sentiment:

For their gift bags, I included the cute napkins, some small matching paper plates, a few K Cups, a few Pepperidge Farm cookies, and a few Hershey Affogato espresso candies.

Just a little something that they can share with their spouses or families, or just keep in their office for a treat. We so appreciate all that they do for our congregation.

They are a blessing!