August Challenge – Waterfall Card
By – Runzalot81 Alissa

This post is a little different. In addition to a great project, Alissa is going to really focus on stamping basics to make your stamping perfect!




Product List:
Paper: Union Square by MME
Stamps: Sassafras, Inkadinkado
Coloring Medium: Chalk
Ink: Archival black, Versamagic



Helpful Hints
1. Choose a stamping cushion. A piece of packaging or a mouse pad.
2. Choose a high quality ink. Start with black. Stazon, Archival, and Memento are my favorites. Do NOT use Stazon with Copics. All of these inks are good for watercoloring, pencils, pencils/gamsol, chalking.
3. You can press your stamp down to the ink pad, but I like to press my ink pad to the stamp. Ink up the stamp real good and STAMP! Even pressure on all sides.

August Never Done it Before Challenge
by Scrappy Canuck - Karen, A Pop Up Layout





For this month's challenge, we had to try something we had never done before. I have played around with a couple of pop-up cards in the past, but I have never tried to incorporate one into a layout. So, here's how to make this simple pop-up mechanisms you can add to any 12X12 layout, or even use in a card! It looks much more complicated than it is!

Materials:
3 pieces of 12X12 scrapbook paper - I used the Echo Park Splash paper as well as some MME Surf's Up paper (that I received in one of the great cardstock grab bags!)
Adhesive
Scissors
Embellishments of your choice to enhance your layout - The stickers in the Echo Park Splash paper pack work great!
A photo

Instructions:
Pop-up mechanism for your photo
1. Cut your photo. I chose to cut the background out of my photo so you would only see my daughter in the popup, but you can simply trim down the photo if you wish as well!
2. Measure the height and width of your photo - mine was 3" X 1".
3. Using a piece of cardstock, cut a piece of paper that is at least 4" wide, and the height of your photo plus 1" X 2. For my photo, that meant I had to cut the paper at least 4" X 8" - 2(3" plus 1").
4. Fold your paper in half.
5. Find the centre point along the folded edge and measure 1/2" to the left and the right.
6. Cut up 1".
7. Fold the flap up and crease. Flip your paper over and recreate the fold the other way.
8. Open up the paper, pop the fold flap inwards and press down the crease again. Your basic square pop-up is now complete.



Pop-up mechanism for the splashes
1. Go back to the edge on the right hand side of the flap that you just created. Measure and mark the 1/8" mark.
2. From that mark, measure over 1/4" and another 1/4". You should now have three marks to the right of your cut edge.
3. Repeat these marks on the left hand side.
4. On each of your 1/8" marks, measure up 7/8".
5. On the first 1/4" mark on each side, measure up 15/16".
6. Place your scissors on the first 1/4" mark on the right hand side of the flap and cut up on a diagonal to the 7/8" mark (this is the mark that is lined up with the 1/8" mark).
7. Place your scissors on the second 1/4" mark on the right side and cut up on a diagonal to the 15/16" mark. Your should now have a parallel cut.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 on the left hand side.
9. Pull each oh the diagonal flaps up and fold. Flip the paper over and repeat the fold.
10. Open up your paper and fold the diagonal flaps inward. As you open and shut the paper, you should see them tucking in behind the square popup you initially created.
11. Cut out some splash shapes and glue them onto the diagonal flaps.
12. Glue your picture in place on the middle pop-up mechanism.

From here, all you need to do is create a card to hold the pop-up mechanism buy cutting a piece of cardstock that is as high and wide as your pop-up mechanism plus 1" or so for a bit of a border. If you are planning to hide the pop-up behind a picture, make sure this card is also wide enough and high enough when folded in half to hold your picture. Flod this paper in half and glue your pop-up mechanism into the centre of the newly created card. If you would like to add a ribbon to keep the pop-up closed, now is the time to do it! Glue onto a 12X12 piece of paper and embellish!

Oh, and wouldn't this same pop-up look great in the American Made MME paper that CropChocolate recently had. I see firework pop-ups instead of splashes! Any other ideas - leave a comment below!

August – Never Done It Before Challenge
Tri Fold Shutter Card – By CorrieW Corrie

Supplies:
5 ½” x 12” card stock
Scoring tool
Pattern paper (MME So Sophie Paper)
Embellishments
Craft knife or sliding blade trimmer





Instructions:
Take the card stock horizontally (long side) and score it at the 2”, 4”, 8”, and 10” marks.
Turn the card stock 90 degrees and cut between the 2” and 10” score marks 1 ½” in on each side, you will have 3 sections of the card but it will be in one piece.
Fold the score lines so that front and back are a sideways “T” and the other flaps tuck in behind.

To do this you will fold as follows:
o Take the middle section and fold the second score line out (mountain) and the next one in (valley). Note you will fold at 4”, and 8” marks.
o One the top and bottom sections you will fold on all score lines the first score line fold will be out (mountain), and then in (valley), and then out (mountain) and then in (valley) again. Note you will fold at 2”, 4”, 10”, and 12”.
o When the card is closed it will be 5 ½” by 4”, so if anything is sticking, chances are something is folded the opposite direction.



Once the card is folded in the right places, you will cut coordinating paper to decorate the inside. I used double sided paper from MME called So Sophie Graceful - Sweet Chic and used both sides on different parts of the card. Using double sided paper is easier for matching things up since they usually coordinate
with each other.

Cut two rectangular pieces and 3 7/8” x 5 3/8” ” from this you will cut the two rectangles of 1 ½” x 2”. These will fit inside the front and back “T” portions.
Cut two strips 1 3/8 ” x 3 7/8”, these will go on the top and bottom sections in the middle of the card.
Cut four small pieces 1 3/8” x 1 ¾” and these will go on the small rectangular pieces remaining.
Adhere all the pieces to the appropriate place and then embellish as desired.
Create a sentiment and put in on the middle or front of the card. This step is optional and you can put this anywhere you wish.

Note: I recommend practicing with scrap paper the first time (this is not the time to try that paper you have been saving for a special use). Refer to the pictures if you are stuck, because the first time can be tricky to get the folds at the right spots but it is worth it.

August - Never Done It Before Challenge
Making Stickers Match Your Project Perfectly - by Moon Jenn

Materials:
Orange & Turquoise cardstock (Cardstock grab bags)
Junkitz plaid paper
Trim & Buttons, Letters, and Tangerine paint – MM
Butterfly and felt birds – Stash
Tools used - MM foam brush, MM paper cutter.



Instructions:
I used a base of 12x12 orange cardstock, and trimmed my plain paper to 11x11 and centered it over the cardstock.
Mat the pictures on turquoise cardstock.
Altered the color of the letters by painting them tangerine orange, to match the layout.



Added the other embellishments to decorate and complete the layout.

August - Never Done It Before Challenge
Seasonal Frames with Altered Chipboard Letters - by bethd488 Beth

Supplies:
4 - 5x7 picture mats
Adhesives (tape runner, liquid glue, glue dots, 3-d dots)
Pen

Summer:
Echo Park’s Splash 6x6 paper (waves for the water, sun radiance for background, green with flowers for letter)
Echo Park’s Summer Days 6x6 paper (amusement park for sky, clouds, banners, ice cream cone)

Autumn:
Pepples Lil Miss Collection 12x12 paper (sunshine for sky/background)
Echo Park’s Happy Halloween 12x12 paper (spider webs for grass and accents, costume party for letter, stickers for accents – fence and pumpkin)
Various stickers from stash

Winter:
Echo Park’s Wintertime 12x12 paper (pine green for snowflakes and snowman, blizzard blue for sky, Damask for back ground)
Echo Park’s Everybody Loves Christmas 12x12 paper (wrapping paper for letter)
Fancy Pants Christmas Magic 12x12 paper (On the Tree for snowbanks and ornament)
Various stickers from stash

Spring:
Echo Park’s Country Drive 12x12 paper (Flutter By for butterflies and pop-up, Bees Knees for sky, Sundress for background butterflies and pop-up flowers, Leafy tree tops for treeline)



Instructions:
Start with one picture mat. Pick out the patterned papers for the sky, ground and background.
Adhere the “sky” paper to the mat with tape runner and cut out following the opening of the mat and the outside of the mat.
Cut the shape of ground you would like (waves for summer, grass for spring, snowbanks for winter, etc).
Adhere the “ground” to the mat with tape runner and cut around the outside of the mat.
Adhere a rectangle of about 3 ½ x 4 ½ to back of mat with tape runner to cover the opening for the background.



Pick out the letter and patterned paper for the letter. Adhere the paper to the letter with liquid glue and cut out around the letter with an exacto knife (see video).
Adhere the letter to the mat/paper with glue dots.
Choose embellishments and accents. Apply them to the letter and frame as desired, using 3-d dots to create popped-up items.
Using the pen to write the season’s name on the letter and some special things about each season on the ground.
Then frame the mat in frame of choice.

August - Never Done It Challenge
Wood Burning by Craft-a-holic Queen - Michele

The Materials:

1 6x6 piece of wood, unpainted
Wood burning tool
Pencil
Small tool to etch over design
1 sheet of two sided Halloween themed paper, cut to 5x5
Sticker letters
Bat or other Halloween type embellishments
Glue

The Instructions:
Draw design onto the wood and the backside of the paper that will be on the wood. Cut design out of the paper. Put glue on the back side of the paper and adhere to the wood. Wait 10-15 minutes to dry.

Heat up the wood burning tool. When it’s ready, follow along the etched design, being careful not to push down too hard as it will burn more wood than you may want. For an added touch, if you want to burn some of the paper around the design, you can. Also an option…you can go around the edges and sides of the wood and burn that as well or leave plain. It’s your choice! 



Out of the scraps of paper, make a bowtie. It doesn’t make any difference what size it is. My bowtie is made of one piece of paper, folded in half, then just cut out an uneven bowtie. The knot is a small scrap of paper, distressed and a bat brad attached to it. Glue the knot to the bowtie. You can add to the Halloween look by wrinkling up the bowtie or using your wood burning tool and burning tiny holes into the bowtie. PLEASE be careful though!!!! Paper can smolder if the tool is left on the paper too long.

Using your letter stickers, place the word “BOO” on the front bottom part of the wood. Add additional embellishments if desired.

August - "Never Done It Challenge - Using Clay
Love Card - by JeepMama Paula


Products Used:
“Love” stamp-Imaginisce
Timber Brown StazOn Ink
Concord Crush Stampin Up Ink
Wildflowers from Making Memories
Purple Fab Brads
Sculpy Modeling Clay
Green Dew Drops
Twine from The Twinery
Paper pack-Basic Grey Wisteria
Making Memories Tool Kit
Tattered Angels in Spring Violet
Glitz from CTMH



Instructions:
Turn oven on based on Sculpy instructions, combine white, tan & purple
clay to desired marbeling effect, shape, stamp with Stazon Ink or a dry stamp with
desired image, create holes using piercing tool, bake.



Create layered flower by choosing 4 different sizes, spray flowers with Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels, while wet wad each flower into tight ball, set aside to dry.

Fussy cut dragon fly, embellish with Glitz glitter glue and Dew Drops, set aside.
Cut 5x7 base from patterned paper, attach to card base, distress with Concord Crush from Stampin Up.

Once Clay is removed from oven, allow to completely cool, run ribbon thru two holes, attach to card base.

Un-wrap flowers, distress edges lightly of a few petals with Timber brown, layer on brad, attach to
card.

Attach dragonfly.

August – "Never Done It Before" Challenge
Embossing with Chipboard – LMissCrafter - Jamie

The Materials:
White cardstock, Summer Days by Echo Park papers and brads, seam binding ribbon from my stash, and chipboard letters from Making Memories.



The Instructions:
1. Start with a white 4.25 x 5.5" card base.
2. Adhere a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of patterned paper to the front of the card.
3. Cut a 3.75" x 5" piece of white cardstock to use in your embossing sandwich.
4. Create the following sandwich for your cuttlebug from bottom to top: A plate, B plate, tan spellbinders embossing mat, the cardstock from step 3, your chipboard shape (placed where you would like it), 2 pieces of cardstock as a shim, and your B plate.
5. Run your sandwich through the cuttlebug twice.
6. Adhere the embossed cardstock to your card front and embellish as desired.

The Video:

August Theme - Never Done It Before

Watercolor Baby Girl Card by Cricutica – Paula

Crop Chocolate Products Used:
Echo Park Victoria Gardens 12x12 Paper
Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky "Together" Twine

Lime Twist Out of the Blue 6x6 Paper Pad

My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Playing Cards for GIrls
Basic Grey Clear Stamps
Making Memories Jar Collection Blossoms Mix Lemonade
Making Memories Crystal Brads Value Pack

Other Products Used:
Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons
Stampin' Up! Classic Ink Basic Black
Stampin' Up! Textured Cardstock Melon Mambo
Canson Watercolor Paper

Card base is 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 cut from Melon Mambo

Victoria Gardens paper piece is 4x5 1/4
Out of the Blue Paper is 1 1/4x5
Twine is wrapped around right end of Victoria Gardens Paper
Hole was punched in center of flower, twine was run through and knot tied
Bling was added on top of knot

Please watch video to learn how watercolor effect was achieved on banner.

CropChocolate.com Design Team Blog Hop!

Good morning ladies!! Welcome to the CC.com Chocolatier Blog Hop!! We're celebrating our new Design Team and rewarding you for checking out their work!

Here's how this works:
1. You're at the first stop! Good job!! (insert Neysa clapping here.)
2. Your second stop is going to be bethd488 - Beth's blog at http://engineeringmemories.blo​gspot.com She will lead you to your next stop!
3. Please leave comments and follow each blog. Each will guide you around to your next stop.
4. Once you reach your last stop, leave a comment that you've visited each of the Chocolatier's blogs in order to qualify to win some AMAZING blog candy!! A Slice, 2 Design Cards, and other scrappy goodness!! EASY PEASY!!

Happy hopping! :)

Basic Guide to Distressing
by D2 - DeeDee

Ok ladies.. you asked for it and here it is!! My basic guide to distressing with ink!! I sincerely encourage you to try this with all colors!! These TH Distress inks react so lovely together and they all lay really nicely over patterned papers.. experimenting is the key to finding out what you like best! Today I'm showing you a handful of altered match boxes... Our prompt for this month was simply "Never done it before" and I'm so glad I tried these out, I feel like each one is such a little piece of artwork!!

Here is the project:


Products used:
Crop Chocolate: -- Making Memories Paper Reverie Sienne 12x12 paper pack, -- Sienne butterflies,-- Sienne gems.
Non CC: -- Distress Ink (Vintage Photo). -- Hemp, -- random half pearl, -- match boxes, -- adhesive

Optional step: Paint or color your match box.
Step 1: cut coordinating paper strips 2 and 1/8 inches wide by 5 inches long (The 5 inches leaves room for overlap!)
Step 2: pick butterflies to contrast patterns on paper
Step 3: Distress!!

VIDEO

Step 4: Adhere paper to match boxes.
Step 5: wrap hemp/twine/your pick around the match boxes for a little added nostalgia
Step 6: Add centers to your butterflies
Step 7: Adhered butterflies to match boxes
Step 8: Give away!! or pile up on the mantle for a super cute conversation starter.

I can't wait to see what you all do with distressing!! -D²"

I Don't Know if You Know This but... It's Kind of a Big Deal

At CropChocolate.com no task is too big. It's just the structuring of the task and methodology that takes some time. Chris has made great headway on the CropChocolate.com Classifieds including a testing environment that deploys each time a classifieds ad is created. Just to make sure nothing breaks. That has taken time. The other items that are taking time are the way we store pictures. Right now, CropChocolate.com is hosting tens-of-thousands of pics that you have posted. We are working on improving those by the way they're stored, indexed and categorized. This will be relevant when adding items to your personal profile as well as a classifieds section of CropChocolate.com. You will see galleries for your pictures rather than individually marked pictures. You will be able to scroll through ideas by relevancy and more. This, along with the storing and indexing were necessary for the classifieds to take form the way we are designing it.

We're also writing a program that will allow you to see exactly what shipping will cost--regardless of where you live and where you ship. This will help the seller avoid loss and give the purchaser the best shipping options available.

We are integrating monetary exchange programs so you can transact back and forth using CropCredits and PayPal.

And we are creating a customized format that's user-friendly and SWEET. We have a designer working on it now. Chris and I can design some things--like CropChocolate.com--but we wanted to get some outside influence on CropChocolate.com Classifieds.

Things are running smoothly so far largely thanks to Chris' hard work and time. We are going to be doing a few things in the near future in preparation for the deployment. The first item is a redundant transfer of data. We are doing that tomorrow night, August 3rd, at 9PM MST. You should not see much of a difference but there is a small chance that things might slow down just a touch.

You will see more updates as we move along. We're getting there and we're excited to see YOU there... on CropChocolate.com Classifieds!

Sweetly,

The CropChocolate.com Team

The CropChocolate.com Chocolatiers by Amber

Hi everyone!! I’ve hijacked the CC.com blog to bring some very {EXCITING} news to you!

I am so pleased to announce our 2011-2012 Design Team!!

Drumroll please…

Bethd488 – Beth
Corriew – Corrie
Craft-a-holic Queen - Michele
Cricutica – Paula
D2 – DeeDee
ScrappyCanuck – Karen
Moon – Jenn
JeepMama – Paula
Runzalot81 – Alissa
LMissCrafter – Jamie

I feel so lucky to be involved with this team of amazing women. These ladies are all so talented and each brings a completely different style to the table. There’s definitely something here for everyone!

Each of the Design Team members will be bringing a different project to you each month, complete with a video instructing you how to make these projects. 10 awesome projects each month – that’s 120 projects a year!! Think of all of the crafty goodness you’re going to be able to do!

We (CropChocolate.com, the design team, and myself) will be hosting a Blog Hop starting Friday, August 5th so be on the lookout for details! There’s blog candy to be won! Sneak peeks of the blog hop projects have already started and will be posted throughout the week by the design team. This will run all weekend, so please don't fret if you can't do it until Sunday afternoon. I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, 8/9.

Congratulations ladies!! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us. :)

PS: Don't forget your project for the Focus Group challenge!! They're due Thursday by 5pm. Participants will be announced this coming Friday. Good luck!