School Memorabilia Folder - by CorrieW

Crop Chocolate Supplies

Snake Tape

FP Winterwonderland Paper

Directions:

1. Cut a piece of cardstock to 12 x 6"

 

2. Score the cardstock at the 1/2" mark on the two short sides and one long side

3.  Draw a line on the 45 degree angle on the bottom corners, cut these off.  By cutting these miters the bottom corners will lay flat

4. Take a bone folder and crease the score marks

5. Decorate the pocket on the outside

6.  Add strong adhesive to the flaps and adhere to the bottom of the page

7.  Finish decorating page and fill with memorabilia 

Make Your Own Washi Tape - by LilMissCrafter

 

1. Materials Required:

Strips of your favorite paper (This and That Collection by Echo Park)

Tape of choice (I used 3/4" matte Scotch tape) You can also use packing tape, etc.

Spray bottle with water

Double-Sided Tape

 

2. Cut strips of paper to the width of the tape you will be using.  I cut mine 3/4" wide.

 

3. Place a strip of tape on the right side (side you want to see) of your paper and cover it completely.

 

4. Flip the paper/tape from step 3 over and spray the uncoated/paper side with water multiple times.  Just enough to wet without causing the water to bead up on top of the paper strip.

 

5. Use your fingers to rub the paper off of the tape.  The more you rub off the more translucent the washi tape will be.  Experiment and have fun seeing the results.

 

6. Adhere the strip to your project using double-sided tape such as scor-tape or a Xyron machine.  Make batches ahead of time and roll them up for future use.

Did someone say PARTY? - by JeepMama

Crop Chocolate Products Used:

Wintertime Paper from Echo Park

Fancy Pants 10” Delight Stamps

Making Memories Slice Vinyl

Zing Embossing Powder in White

Tim Holtz Distressed Ink in Festive Berries & Evergreen Bough

Glitter Paper (VERY old)

KI Memories Alpha

Non-CC Products:

Versa Mark

Tim Holtz Distressed Ink in Black Soot, Mustard Seed, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord

Sizzix eClips (for Die Cutting)

Marvy Heat Gun

Craft Tray

Instructions:

Begin with Making Memories Slice Vinyl & cut image out.  Place new mask on a piece of Grey Wintertime Cardstock. Using Tim Holtz ink with one of the long skinny stamps from the Fancy Pants Delight set, begin on left side of page, stamp from top to bottom re-inking as necessary to, repeat with all colors. Done with Color ink, get out the black & stamp around mask with floral images, make sure you go all the way around the mask for it to look best when finished. Using a paper towel, wipe excess ink from mask working from outside in. Using butterfly wing with VersaMark, press stamp into VersaMark then stamp onto page close to “ear” area, generously sprinkle White Zing embossing powder; repeat with other butterfly wing by opposite “ear”. 

Working over craft tray, tap off excess embossing powder & return to container. Using embossing gun, work from back side of paper to melt the embossing powder. Let mask cool completely then remove eye area from page. Ink in eyes using Tim Holtz Black Soot with a Tim Holtz distressing tool with a foam pad. Remove mask from cardstock. Decorate the rest of the page as desired, I chose Mardi Grad Beads along with a photo of my younger son mounted on Giltter Cardstock.  Purple Alphas from KI Memories.

Watercolors - by D2

"Hello Chocolate lovers and fans! It's almost time for our terms as DT members to come to an end -- which is sad, yes but it has been a great year with tons of wonderful inspiration from the team, and I can sincerely say that it has been a pleasure doing work that inspires you! Thank you for all your support :) We, as DT members, sort of wanna go out with a bang.. so here is my 2nd to last post -- with a water color technique using Distress Ink. Our inspiration this month was a drawing that our favorite little Bug Neysa did -- and I kept thinking of watercolor when I looked at, very rich deep watercolor. so I grabbed from my CC stash my Portobello Road 6x6, my walnut stain distress ink, and my iced spruce distress ink, and broken china distress stain Other items I grabbed included recycled corrugated cardboard, pumice stone distress stain, and a unity stamp set. 

 My tutorial is based on creating the sort of splotchy watercolor effect seen in the stamping on my card:

-insert Finished Neysa here-

It's actually really pretty easy.. check it out:

Step1) Ink stamp with water reactive distress ink.

Step2) Spritz lightly (and from pretty far away) with your favorite squire bottle or mister.. make sure the spray is set to mist, not stream.. and only let a few spots hit the stamp.

Step3) Take your spritzed stamp and stamp your paper! I chose color combos that really seemed to match the paper, and I also overlapped my stamps for a nice change of pace. 

Step4) Adhere stamped image to final card! 

For an added bonus I inked, spritzed and stamped this piece of paper with the same stamp in different ways so you could see the separate reactions that the water reactive inks have :) Distress stain vs Distress Ink.. and the amount of water used. 

Hope you've had a wonderful year here with me and the rest of the Design Team! Come back for my last post, folks! with a serious amount of love♥ -DeeDee"

Neysa's Masterpiece via Tin Foil - by Michele

Ingredients:

1 6x6 piece of wood (purchased at Hobby Lobby)

Twine

Aluminum foil

Acrylic paint

MME’s “ American Made” paper

3x5 piece of white chipboard

Miscellaneous paper strips

Wire ribbon

Glue stick and other adhesives

Stapler

 *Tear off a piece of 12 x 12 foil. Gently crumple it up. Do not crumple into a ball…it will tear when you unfold it.

*Spread glue over the top of your piece of wood. Wrap twine around the wood as many times as you would like then tie off. Add a little more glue over the twine but not too much.

*With the shiny side facing up, place the foil over the top of the wood and twine. Using your finger or a rounded tool, gently rub the foil over the top of the wood and twine, being very careful not to push too hard around the twine. Once the top is covered, put glue on the sides and back and cover with the rest of your foil. Rub over the foil on the sides and back to make sure that all of the foil is adhered to the wood.

*Using a little bit of black acrylic paint and some water, spread the paint over the top of your project. Once it’s covered, using a clean paper towel, wipe off the paint. This gives the paint a more metallic look. You can repeat this as many times as you need to get your desired look. KEEP THE PAPER TOWEL. ;)

*Lightly spritz water on the dull side of your chipboard. Using your paper towel, dab the leftover paint onto the chipboard until desired look is reached. Use heating tool to dry the chipboard.

*I used my “Stars & Stripes Forever” tag from MME’s American Made paper pack and adhered it to the chipboard. Using 3D glue dots, I placed the chipboard tag to the center of my project.

*Tie wire ribbon around the bottom of the project.

*Next, you will want to take 10-12 different colored strips of paper and curl them. Staple them together once you have them arranged the way you would like. (I added a few strips of foil but it’s not necessary. J) Glue the strips to the upper left side of your project. I tried to arrange my strips to look like fireworks…..not sure it worked but I like it just the same!!! ;)

Hope you enjoy this project! I sure had fun!!!

Guest Designer - Celtic Crafter - Mother's Day Spools

Spool Photo Holder for Mother’s Day

     I am SO excited to be the guest designer for May! Since it is May, I decided to make a Mother’s Day gift for my mom. She used to be a seamstress, so when I saw a vintage spool photo holder (designed by Rae Barthel, featured in the May/June ’12 issue of Paper Crafts magazine), I knew a gift like that would be perfect. I found an old wood spool that was my mom’s (which just happened to have the original thread in her favorite color & goes with the papers I chose, so I left it as is), a cardboard ribbon spool, and I bought an unfinished wood spool from the craft store (because I only had the one from my mom) to make this cool photo holder.

CC Items Used:

Echo Park This & That Graceful Collection Pack; Rusty Hinge Distress Stain; MME Stella & Rose Hazel “Memories” Trim

Other Supplies:

Wood & Ribbon Spools (my unfinished wood spool is 1½"x 2⅛"); 24-gauge Craft Wire (I used an antique gold); Vintage Photo Distress Ink; Jute Twine

Instructions:

1) Decorate spools as desired. I adhered patterned papers to the top & bottom of the cardboard spool using Mod Podge, inked the edges, and tied aqua twill around it with a bow. (This will be the base.) Then I stained the unfinished wood spool using Rusty Hinge Distress Stain, adhered patterned paper to the top (the bottom won’t show), and wrapped a quote around it, that I printed & matted on a piece of patterned paper cut to 1½"x 6¾" (with the edges distressed & inked), tied with jute twine.

2) Adhere the two wood spools together, stacked, using hot glue or a strong liquid adhesive.

3) Cut wire to the length needed (I needed 19 inches), form two circles at the top (this will hold the photo), and create about an inch long spiral just below the circles by wrapping the wire around a pen or pencil.

4) Thread the straight part of the wire through the wood spools and bend the end under (making sure the wire won’t stick out when stacked on the base).

5) Finally, adhere your wired spools centered onto the base.

Now you can add a photo or a handmade tag like I’ve done. (I made this simple tag using two of the papers from the collection pack.) 

Twine Circle - by Moon Jenn

Hey everyone!!

Neysa is to the age where she LOVES to color.  For this month's Design Team challenge, I turned her loose with some Crayola Markers and this is what she came up with:

The girls will be using this masterpiece as their inspiration for the month. :)

xoxo Amber

*******************************************************

Here's Moon's interpretation of the challenge.

Here is a layout I created based on Neysa's picture.

I used the colors, and went from there.

I used Echo Park (For the Record) for the papers on this layout.

I used twine from The Twinery.

I used a circle punch by EK Success

I used adhesive (ATG gun).

For My technique this month, I am doing a twine circle.

You could do any shape you like, but the circle is easier, and clearer to see.

I punch a circle out of scrap paper, and put adhesive on it.  

You can use any adhesive you like.  I prefer my ATG gun.

Then, starting in the center, you start coiling the piece of twine, and go round and round til you cover the entire circle.

Let it dry, and stick it on your layout.

It is a lot of fun to make your own custom embellishments this way!

NSD Challenge Recap!

NSD Online Challenge #1 - Something Old

Remember twistel and the big bulky metal embellishments?  And all of those eyelets that you hoarded that are now collecting dust on your shelf??  Use your OLDEST scrapbook product to create a one of a kind project.

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

A name will be drawn from a hat for the Something Old challenge--the winner will receive $25 CropCredit!

NSD Online Challenge #2 - Something New

We’ve all bought something that we’ve never used before, and if you’re like me – it’s probably still sitting there waiting for you to use it. So break out that new product and get crafty with it!!!

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

A panel of judges will determine the winner of the Something New challenge. The winner will receive a Cricut Cartridge (we will send you a list of options), 1 $25 Cameo Download Card and 1 $10 Cameo Download Card or 2 Slice Design Cards of your choice (we will send you a list of options).

NSD Online Challenge #3 - Something Borrowed

Let’s celebrate the creativity of all of us!!  I’m sure there’s a LO or project that someone else has done that’s totally caught your eye.  “Borrow” it as inspiration and create your own!

**Please try to use someone here at CC's work!  You can search back through contests and profiles. :)**

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product

*Winner drawn from a hat. Prize  equals ultimate grab bag $50 value.

NSD Online Challenge #4 - Something Blue

There are SO many amazing shades of blue in the color spectrum.  Incorporate 5 elements of blue into a project. 

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

*Winner selected by panel. Prize equals $25 crop credit.

NSD Online Challenge #5 - With This Ring...

With This Ring…

Include buttons or other embellishment in a shape {or} letter – ie heart, linked wedding rings, circle, R, A, etc.

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

A name will be drawn from a hat for the With This Ring challenge--the winner will receive a grab bag valued at $50!

NSD Online Challenge #6 - Wedding Colors

What’s the most important thing to a girl after finding the Groom?  The Wedding Colors!!

Choose your Wedding colors or your favorite colors to create an altered art project.

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

A name will be drawn from a hat for the Wedding Colors challenge--the winner will receive a $25 Silhouette download card.

NSD Online Challenge #7 - Strike Up the Band

Strike Up the Band

Create a project using an accordion base. 

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

A panel of judges will determine the winner of the Strike Up the Band challenge. The winner will receive a Cricut Cartridge (we will send you a list of options), 1 $25 Cameo Download Card and 1 $10 Cameo Download Card or 2 Slice Design Cards of your choice (we will send you a list of options).

NSD Online Challenge #8 - The Honeymoon

The best part of the wedding???  The Honeymoon!

Create a mini album for a honeymoon or vacation that you’ve taken or are getting ready to take.

Requirements:

-              All entries are due via submission in www.cropchocolate.com/contests by May 13, 2012 by 11:59pm MST.

-       Challenges are not allowed to be combined.

-       Use at least 50% CropChocolate or Oh My Crafts product.

A panel of judges will determine the winner of the Honeymoon challenge. The winner will receive a Cricut Cartridge (we will send you a list of options), 1 $25 Cameo Download Card and 1 $10 Cameo Download Card or 2 Slice Design Cards of your choice (we will send you a list of options).

Register for the Big Event

Getting Hitched

Making the decision to bring two things together as one can be a scary process. When I met McCall, I was a 36-year-old bachelor with one failed dating relationship after another. I asked her out with some reservation knowing that the risk was high and all my emotional investments up to that point ended up as failures. But after our first date I knew I was in the right place, and all those failures from the past melted away and were no longer remembered.

Since launching CropChocolate.com in 2009, we have had many occasions where we've been "asked out", so to speak. We've been courted by several offers but none of them made sense until now. After meeting Kevin and Sandy Cottle, we had one of those moments where past suitors melted away and it was just us, two companies trying to do what's best... for our bottom line, but, even more for our customers.

About the time CropChocolate.com was introduced to Oh My Crafts, I came across a piece of marketing literature released by them a few years back. It included phrases like, "There is not a day that goes by that we do not think of you and what you need us to be for you." Or, "Oh My Crafts is a family run business--parents, children, relatives and then our adopted family--our employees." Reading comments like this and watching the way the Cottle's run their business confirmed what we already sensed, this is a company run with integrity and values. 

After our second meeting, McCall was impressed by Kevin as she observed him checking traffic for his employees so they didn't get caught in construction zones that surround their warehouse. We're quickly finding out that this is not a unique instance either, Kevin and Sandy do things like this--small and big--for many. Their employees gush every time they talk about working at Oh My Crafts... just like ours do.

So that gives a quick backgrounder--moving forward. The merger between Oh My Crafts and CropChocolate.com will bring many opportunities to both companies. Oh My Crafts has a strong name in the industry with many vendor relationships. We have worked through Oh My Crafts to acquire new product and we have tested some of the product that they had sold through on CropChocolate.com. With success in both methods of liquidation--product acquisition for CropChocolate.com from more vendors and liquidation for Oh My Crafts--we've seen great excitement and growth. What's more, the community on CropChocolate.com has become more excited and relationships are strengthening on the site. With strong vendor relationships shared between the two companies, we will purchase close-out deals just for CropChocolate.com and we will broaden the brands and offers on Oh My Crafts. We will also work to strengthen online experience on both web sites and work on some really exciting new technologies. CropChocolate.com will not change its model--why fix something that works so well--but will offer more SWEET deals in higher quantities with broadening offerings of highly desired product and brands. In return, Oh My Crafts will not change their catalog model but will enrich the user experience by offering the newest product with a satisfaction guarantee. In addition to the combining sales channels, Oh My Crafts will bring strength with years of industry experience and fulfillment while CropChocolate.com offers expertise in online marketing and technology.

We are excited to move forward and grow both brands. Both companies have great things to offer and things to approve on. Together, with expertise in various areas and new technologies coming from Chris, we expect to see a beautiful "marriage"... with maybe some offspring?

Best,

Jon & McCall and the CropChocolate.com Team