Cocoa Creations Challenge #2

As many of you already know, the current Design Team on CropChocolate is now hosting weekly challenges.  You can find them on the "Contests" page(s).

"This week's challenge is brought to you by UmWowStudio and comes in SKETCH form!  Do a layout, card, altered canvas or even 3D piece based of the sketch in some way!  Link up and share for your chance to win an UmWowStudio prize package.  Don't forget to say how the sketch influenced your project!"

Here's the sketch provided:

When I saw this sketch, I knew immediately that I wanted to use some of my new UmWowStudio chipboard.  Whether it be the hexagon background or the layered hexagons, I knew I had to include it somehow.  So to my scrappy room I went . . .

Here's what I came up with:

Supplies:

Indie Chic "Ginger" paper collection by MME

"Mysterious Teal" cardstock by Bazzill Basics Paper (background)

UmWowStudio hexagon background chipboard (used as a mask)

Embossing paste from Studio 490

Kioshi micro mon stickers by Basic Grey

"Bolivian Blue" Silks Acrylic Glaze

Mister Huey's color mist in white

Walnut Stain distress ink

This layout is about my daughter and her sleeping habit . . . you could set your watch to her naps and nite-nite time.  And once she was asleep, NOTHING could disturb her. lol

For this LO, I used UmWowStucio's hexagon background chipboard as a mask and used my embossing paste from Studio 490.  After it was completely dry, I splattered the hexagons with some Bolivian Blue acrylic glaze to tone done the brightness.  Since the glaze was too thick for what I wanted to do (well, at least in my opinion) and I didn't want globs, I swished my paintbrush in water first and then the glaze (I had put a dab on my splat mate so I didn't dilute the entire container of glaze) to dilute it a bit.  Then "splatter away" I went.  I also splatter my background with Mister Huey's color mists in white.  And even though I am very happy with the way this layout turned out . . . the picture of it truly does NOT do it justice.

I am also going to link this up on UmWowStudio's blog for their June Sketch Challenge.  There's a great prize up for grabs . . . you should check it out!!!  You have till the last day of the month at Midnight Pacific time to link up your project.

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my project.

Till the next time I'm up in the night.  Kathy

Cocoa Creations Challenge #1

While the retail side of CropChocolate has closed its doors, the social side is still up and running.  It is a GREAT place to go to share, to learn about crafting and well . . . to just hang out with soon-to-be friends.  The current Design Team decided to start hosting weekly challenges.  And Jon (one of the owners of CropChocolate) being the generous person he is, is letting them use the Contest page(s) for the new Cocoa Creations' challenges starting May 17th.  The challenges will be posted every Friday and you will have till the following Friday at 10am MST to post your project.

Our first challenge comes from Chris (or Christina as some of you may know her as).

           In honor of my hubby's birthday this week, my challenge 
          to you is this:

          Create a card, layout, tag, etc. to celebrate someone's 
          birthday! Easy!

          You can use anything from your stash!

          I will be providing one lucky participant with a prize!   
          Either a $25 gift card to a retailer of your choice or I 
          will send you a scrappy surprise.

          I would love to send you a cake but I doubt it would make 
          it there in one piece or fresh!

          Good luck, ladies!!!

So to the drawing board I went.  I even challenged myself on another level . . . I couldn't use anything but scraps except for the card base(s).  I got on a roll and ended up making 4 cards in just a few hours . . . I actually had the parts cut the night before and put them together the next day.  I know, "Over Achiever" . . . but believe me, this is not the norm for me.  lol

Here's what I did:

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4

For cards #1 and #2, I also used UmWowStudio's layer chipboard stars.  I am in love with their chipboard.  It comes in a natural color so you can ink, stain, paint, flock, bead, etc. to match your project or just leave them plain.  It is also very sturdy.

Till the next time I'm up in the night. Kathy

Sketch-n-Scrap Guest Designer Challenge

Here is a layout I did this past week using a sketch from Sketch-n-Scrap's blog.  It was their very first sketch from a year ago and they decided to use it for July's Guest Designer Challenge . . . meaning, if you submit a layout for this challenge, you could win a spot as the July Layout Guest Designer.  

I am so excited to be able to participate in this . . . I just hope I can get it posted in time since my internet has been wonky all day and this week has been challenging with it being my daughter's 17th birthday AND it was her first time driving by herself.  Talk about being on pins and needles.  I think I have a few more gray hairs. lol

Anyway, here is the sketch we were to use:

Isn't it just GREAT!  I know I love it!  

For my layout, I did the mirror-image of the sketch and I decided to use some pictures from my first Mother's Day.  It was very memorable for a couple of reasons . . . well, one (1) it my FIRST (so of course it would be memorable).  Another was I had just finished over 11 months of chemotherapy . . . so that in itself was a celebration.  But it was also a celebration because I had been given only a 0-5% chance of making it through the chemo.   And here I am 17 years later . . . cancer FREE!!!

Here's what my layout turned out to look like:

Supplies:

"Pretty in Pink Music" by Glitz (background)

Misc. other Glitz papers (pink & brown dot papers and cream w/ rose paper)

"Berry" solid cardstock by Echo Park

"Horizon" from Beach Babe paper collection by Fancy Pants

brown cardstock by Bazzill

Viva Pink glimmer mist

Tattered Leather glimmer mist

Brown Doodlebug alphas

Helmar Scrap Dots

misc. pink flowers

pink tulle

I hope you like what I did.  And if you do, please check back to Sketch-n-Scrap on May 31 to vote for me . . . the person with the most votes will win the July Layout Guest Designer.  {{fingers crossed}} 

But if you feel my layout still needs something, PLEASE leave me some constructive criticism as to what you think it needs.  And as I always do, if I choose to follow your advice, I will send you some blog candy . . . I will post on CropChocolate.com on June 10th if I did follow someone's advice.  So keep an eye out here and there to see what I end up doing.

Till the next time I'm up in the night. Kathy

NSD winners, winners and more winners . . .

Last week CropChocolate some NSD challenges thought up by their Design Team . . . eight (8) challenges total.  And the response was overwhelming.  And as usual, I decided to give away blog candy . . . see HERE for all the ways participants were eligible to win my blog candy.

But before I get to the winners, I want to say a big "THANK YOU" Jon, McCall, Amber and the rest of the CC crew for all your hard work over the years . . . as most of you know, as of May 10, 2013, the retail part of CropChocolate closed its doors.  But thankfully the social aspect with still be there . . . so keep checking back for updates on all the new, exciting changes that are yet to come.  As one person said, "When one door closes, another opens."  And this is so true for CropChocolate.  As much as I will miss the retail part of CC, I am happy that the social aspect will still be there . . . I have made a LOT of great friends there.  In fact, they are my extended family . . . and I love each and every one of them.

Okay, enough or I'm going to start crying once again.

Onto the winners . . . .

{{drum roll}}

For those who entered Challenge #4 "Bugs", the following name was drawn:

Lisa - RnoAngel0712

And for an extra name on the "Bug" challenge, my daughter wanted to look thru all the projects and choose one.  She said she choose the following for several reasons . . . but the main one was how all the elements came together.  Her choice was:

by belle  (click HERE to see her entry)

For those who entered every challenge either with all different or 

combining challenges, the following names were drawn:

bethd488

JeepMama

Christina  

And for the BIG blog candy.  A name was drawn from those who did ALL the challenges with a DIFFERENT project for each one.  This blog candy includes a set of Tim Holtz's Mini Blueprint stamps and a $15 gift card to an online retailer of your choice along with some other scrappy goodies.  

{{drum roll}}

And the winner is :

blue

Congrats to all the winners!!!  Please either PM me on CropChocolate or on Facebook with your real name and mailing address.  Also, if you want, please give me an idea as to what things you do NOT like . . . as I try to make sure that each person who wins blog candy from me will be able to use what I send them. :)

Again, CONGRATS!!!!!

Till the next time I'm up in the night. Kathy

NSD Challenge #4 "Bugs"

Today was the last day to post a project for the NSD challenges on CropChocolate . . . they were to be posted by 8am MST.  Luckily, I wasn't able to sleep last night and was able to complete two (2) other projects.  I ended up doing a total of two (2) cards and two (2) layouts . . . and was able to post them to 6 out of the 8 challenges. :)

For NSD Challenge #4 "Bugs, thisis what were were told: "Spring is upon us andmany things are coming out of their winter sleep . . . ..  bugs being one of them.  so our challenge to you is to do a project out of your comfort zone and use bugs in/on it."

So for this challenge, I did a card since I am not a card person.  I mean, I can make cards and they do turn out nice.  But it seems to take me longer to come up with a card than it would a layout or an altered art project.  Not sure why, but it does.  Also, I challenged myself to use only one type/pattern of paper for this challenge . . . making it out of my comfort zone, too.  

Here's what I did:

Supplies:

CC Products: cream CS from Carta Bella; 

Walnut Stain & Black Soot distress ink; 

and rhinestones

 NonCC: Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist in Spanish Moss & Ice; 

TH chicken wire stamp; misc. verse stamp; and butterfly punch.

For this card, I used a cream CS from Carta Bella for the base and for the front panel.  I misted the panel and then inked the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink so it would look like I used two (2) types of paper. I also punched my butterflies from the same paper and used them as a mask . . . then folded the wings a bit and adhered to where they had been used a mask . . . so it would look like they are flying up out of the paper.  It's kinda hard to see from this photo, but it really does look like they are flying up off the paper. :)

I also posted this card for NSD Challenge #5 "Bling, Bling, Bling", where our challenge was to use two (2) types of ". . . glitter, gems, Stickles or some other bling like mists".  My two types of bling were the rhinestones and the shimmering mist.

Till the next time I'm up in the night.  Kathy

NSD Challenge #3:and #8

Today was the last day to post a project for the NSD challenges on CropChocolate . . . they were to be posted by 8am MST.  Luckily, I wasn't able to sleep last night and was able to complete two (2) more layouts.  So all-in-all I did two (2) cards and (2) layouts . . . and was able to post them to 6 of the 8 challenges.

For this next layout, I posted in two (2) of the challenges - Challenge #3 and #8.

For NSD Challenge #3 "Buttons & Bows", our challenge was to "Create a project using at least one button AND at least one bow. As far as the rules: for the bow(s)…you can use ribbon, twine, paper, a stamped image or even a hand drawn bow. And since we are so easy ;) same goes for the button(s)… you can use an actual button, a stamped image, chipboard piece, paper or hand drawn image."

And for NSD Challenge #8 "The Scrap and New Sketch", our challenge was to "Use Karen's sketch to create something AMAZING! Only catch?? Aside from using the sketch, you must use something new, and you must use something from your scrap pile." Here's the sketch we were to use for this challenge:

Here's how I interpreted both of these challenges:

Supplies:

CCproducts: Paradise Beach paper collection and CS by EP; 

American Crafts pen; 

Walnut Stain distress ink; 

Cameo;

and Snake Tape

NonCC: Liquid Pearls in turquoise; Raidiant Rain Shimmering 

Mist in Bashful Blue;  misc. washi tape; and rose twine by AC

Once again, I couldn't decide what photos to use (I have tons of FL vacation photos), so I posted it "as is" and put it in my pile of layouts needing photos.  Yes, I do have a pile of layouts I have done but haven't found THE photo for them.  There are just times when a layout comes to me without any particular photo in mind. But then there are times, I can't do a layout unless I have a photo to coordinate with. I tell my dh that it's to keep HIM on his toes. lol  I know, doesn't make sense.  But that's between us. :)

Till the next time I'm up in the night. Kathy

NSD Challenge #2: Tic-Tac-Toe . .

Today was the last day to post a project for the NSD challenges on CropChocolate . . . they were to be posted by 8am MST.  Luckily, I wasn't able to sleep last night and was able to complete two (2) more layouts.  So all-in-all I did two (2) cards and (2) layouts . . . and was able to post them to 6 of the 8 challenges.

For CC's NSD Challenge #2: Tic-Tac-Toe, our challenge was to "Use the tic tac toe board (image below!), pick one line in any direction and include those three items on your project (card or layout).

 I did "heart, ribbon, punch" for my tic-tac-toe.    Here's how it turned out:

Supplies:

CCproducts: Paradise Beach paper collection and CS by EP; 

Walnut Stain distress ink; 

American Crafts black pen; 

and Snake Tape

NonCC: Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist in Bashful Blue; 

Liquid Pearls in turquoise; rose twine by AC, hearts from Studio Calico; 

and liquid glue by Tombow 

I couldn't decide on which pictures to use yet, so I posted it "as is".

Till the next time I'm up in the night. Kathy

NSD Challenge #1 "Homeage to Summer"

To celebrate National Scrapbooking Day, CropChocolate has been hosting a whole set of challenges this past week created by their current Design Team . . . eight (8) challenges in all.  You can find the challenges on the Contest pages (pages 1-8).  There will be prizes for those who participate and enter their project.  Yes, prizes!!!  {{smiley face}}  

I will also be giving away some blog candy of my own.  Check here to see to see the different ways you can win some blog candy from me. 

Projects must be posted/submitted in the contest pages by 8am MST May 10.

With that being said, for the month of May, my local scrapbook store is hosting "Mixed Media" make 'n takes . . . when I heard that, I was soooo excited.  Not only was I going to be able to refresh my skills and knowledge, but I would also be learning some new techniques.

Well, this past week I got to work with Silks Acrylic Paints and Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists . . . boy, are the colors YUMMY!!!!  So after purchasing the necessary acrylics and mists to recreate this week's card, I headed home to "play" with my new toys for awhile and to come up with my own interpretation of a sunburst for CC's NSD Challenge #1: "Homeage to Summer".   Here's how my recreation turned out:

Supplies:

CC Products: 

Dk Pink/mint solid CS (from This & That) by EP; 

tan CS by EP (painted with Key Lime acrylic paint); 

Black Soot distress ink; 

rhinestones; 

"crocheted" ribbon by MME; 

Snake Tape. 

NonCC: Silks Acrylic paints in Key Lime, Yellow Roses and Pink Azalea; 

Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist in Spanish Moss & Ice; 
scroll die cut by Tim Holtz; misc. stamp; Hug Snug ribbon.

I used the dk pink/mint solid cardstock for the card base and the tan cardstock for the scroll die cut.  After cutting the die cut, I painted it with Key Lime Acrylic paint.  Let it dry for a minute or two and then applied another layer of acrylic paint.  

Next, I took the crocheted ribbon and sprayed it with the Spanish Moss Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist . . . and then "mopping" up the excess mist & acrylic paint from the splat mat with it.  I did the same thing with ivory Hug Snug ribbon.  Then I set both aside to dry.

Taking 3 colors of Silks Acrylics (Yellow Roses, Key Lime & Pink Azalea), I splatted blobs (such technical terms - lol) on my splat mat . . .approximately 2 to 4 blobs each and misted with water.  Then I took my pre-cut paper tag and paper punched butterfly (or you can cut your own tag) and dragged it thru the paint mixtures, making sure not to swish it around too much . . . if I did, I would end up mixing the paints too much and end up with a brownish mess. :)  

Taking my "Heat it" embossing dryer, I dried the tag and butterfly.  And then I dried my ribbons a bit more with it, too.  Then taking my tag and scroll die cut, I misted them with "Ice" Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist . . . drying them once more before going onto the next step.  Once it was COMPLETELY dry, I flicked "Black China" Twinkling H20 over the tag to give it a bit more dimension and then I stamped my verse with Black Soot distress ink.  If you don't let the shimmering mist completely dry before flicking the Twinkling H2O, the colors will blend together.

I added the Hug Snug ribbon to the tag and then it was time to put the card together.  Once it was all together, I added some bling to my butterfly.

And, VOILA! it was done. :)   

What do you think?  I think I did a pretty good job recreating this card with my own interpretation of a sunburst and can't wait to try out some more of my new Silks Acrylics, Twinkling H2Os, and Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists.  

Remember what I have said before, "There are NO mistakes, only creative discoveries."

Till the next time I'm up in the night.  Kathy

CropChocolate National Scrapbook Day

As many of you have heard, one of my favorite places to shop has decided to close their retail doors. {{sniff, sniff}}  The good news is the social aspect of CropChocolate will remain the same.  {{happy dance}}  Jon and McCall are working on ideas to keep the contest and challenges going, too.   I have met so many talented ladies at CropChocolate . . . many of them I now call FRIENDS.  So I am so excited that the social aspect of CropChocolate will continue on . . . maybe a bit different, but it will still be here.  

To celebrate National Scrapbooking Day, CropChocolate is hosting a whole set of challenges created by their current Design Team . . . eight (8) challenges in all.  You can find the challenges on the Contest pages (pages 1-8).  There will be prizes for those who participate and enter their project.  Yes, prizes!!!  {{smiley face}}  

Projects must be posted/submitted in the contest pages by 8am MST May 10.

I will also be giving away a few things of blog candy.  Here's the different ways you can win my blog candy:

• Three (3) blog candies will be drawn from the names of those who enter ALL the challenges whether all different or whether you combine some of the challenges . . . but please remember if you combine challenges, to still post your project on each challenge. 
• One (1) blog candy will be drawn from the names follow my blog and enters a project into Challenge #4: Bugs (the challenge DeeDee and I came up with).  For this challenge, you need to do a project that is out of the norm (or out of your comfort zone) and includes some sort of bug on it.   "Out of the norm" or "out of comfort zone" meaning if you normally do 12"x12" layouts, then do a 12" circle or an 8x8 or even 8 1/2"x11".  Or do a card that you normally would not think about doing like a circle card or a 3"x3" or a hexagon or even a layering card.  The possibilities are endless . ..  just do something out of your norm and include bugs on it. :)

I will also be giving away a BIG blog candy that will include a set of Tim Holtz Mini Blueprint stamps and $15 gift card to an online retailer of your choice, along with some other scrappy goodness.  To be eligible for this, here's what  you need to do:

• Submit/post a DIFFERENT project for each of the 8 challenges . . . NO combining challenges.
• Become a follower,if you are not a follower already
• State you did each of these in the comments below.

And I will be giving even more blog candy if my followers increase to  95.  And there will be additional blog candy for every 5 followers after that.  To be eligible, here's what you need to do:

• Become a follower if you aren't already
• and, post in the comments that you have done so

I will announce the winners of my blog candy here on Monday, May 13th at 9am MST (10am Central).  So make sure to check back in to see if you are one of the lucky winners. :)

Now let's get crafty and have some FUN!!!

Till the next time I'm up in the night.  Kathy