Maple & Ink is one of many sponsors for this years Coffee Lover’s Blog Hop! Hello there, it’s me Ashleigh, showing you what can be done with our Espresso Yourself stamp set. This stamp set is so adorable for card making and other crafts. I wanted to do something more than a paper craft and if you need super quick gift ideas or a stocking stuffer for a coffee lover, then this set is perfect! Who doesn’t love cute coasters?

I found some round cuts of wood in my garage and thought this wood (ha!) work out great. Having the bark still intact adds extra rustic and cozy feelings, I think. Major craft stores sell round wood cuts too if you can’t find anything suitable around your house. (Or make your husband/partner make you some with a miter saw…)

Honestly, you don’t need anything fancy for this project. I used Versafine ink in Onyx Black for stamping. Make sure your wood rounds are even and dry, otherwise some parts of the stamp may not transfer due to irregularities. Don’t worry about small knots or cracks, they add character!

I then colored in the images with Tombow markers. When coloring, use gentle strokes going with the grain of the wood to reduce or eliminate damage to the markers. Going against the grain can be too rough for most marker tips. I colored very gently and the markers were perfectly fine after. I found the images looked better when some elements were left uncolored like the skin or anything that you would want a light color.

Pro tip (or just a tip from someone who’s made this already) Always use a lighter color than what you would choose. When coloring the wood with markers, the wood always make it darker than on paper. Don’t worry about shading or adding texture with your markers, the wood adds enough as it is.

Pair the coasters with a nice bag of coffee (or tea! or hot cocoa mix!) or even a coffee shop gift card and you’ll have a quick thoughtful gift.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this craft and don’t forget to link up with the coffee lovers bloghop! We’ll be back with more crafts before the blog hop is over so come back soon.

P.S. Maple & Ink stamps are on sale!