September Challenge - D2's Sketch - by Scrappy Canuck - Karen

When I first saw DeeDee's sketch, I loved how she found a way to create a really balanced layout, even though most of the "goings on" were on one side of the page.  I decided to play with it a bit and actually flipped the sketch across the vertical axis!  It looked great that way too, so I decided to play with it a little bit more and create a card instead of a layout.  I wanted to keep the proportions similar, so my card had to be square (in this case 5 1/2" X 5 1/2").  And finally, because I didn't want to be too square (okay - that was really bad), I changed up the shapes!  All I have to say is - when you are working with a great sketch like this one, the variations are endless!

Materials:

Plain coloured cardstock for card base

BoBunny Jazmyne paper (with a bit of BoBunny Noel paper for fun)

Tapestry needle

Hand-sewing needle

Brown embroidery floss

Embroidery cloth (16 count)

Distress Ink - Walnut Stain

Mouse pad

Adhesive of your choice

Creating the Card:

1.  Fold a piece of cardstock in half and cut to a 5 1/2" by 5 1/2" square.  Distress the edges.

2.  Cut a strip of  "Flower Box"  paper from the BoBunny Jasmyne collection at 2"X5 1/2".  Distress the edges with Walnut Stain Distress ink.

3.  Place your paper strip on the mouse pad, and line up the embroidery cloth along the long edge of your paper strip.  

4.  Using your tapestry needle, decide how much of  a seam allowance you would like, and then use your tapestry needle to punch holes in the paper in a straight line.  You can also do this free hand, but the cloth will allow you to get a straight line with evenly spaced holes without having to do any measuring.  

5.  Thread your hand-sewing needles with embroidery floss.

6.  Starting at the first hole, thread the needle up through the hole and leave at least 1" of thread hanging.  Thread the needle down into the 2nd hole.

7.  Thread up through the 3rd  hole, and then back down through the 2nd hole, creating a back stitch.  This will lock your thread in place.  

8.  Thread up through the 4th hole and back down through the 3rd hole. 

9.  Continue the pattern all the way to the end of your strip of paper.

10.  Repeat steps 6-9 on the second side of the strip of paper.

Note: If you notice the white from the core of the paper showing through your holes and you do not like that effect, simply all some more distress ink over top of your thread

11.  Secure the threads with a piece of tape and then glue the strip to your card base. 

12.  Cut out a variety of circle shapes (I used 1/2" , 3/4" and 1 1/2" circles), in the Jasmyne paper varieties.  

13.  Use a variety of stitch patterns to embellish the circles.  Check out the video for some ideas.

14.  Adhere the circles to the base of the card.  

Almost October, and that means a new challenge! :)

Hey ladies!  Amber here. :)

On Monday, we start a new round of a Design Team challenge!  This month's theme??  Here's a few hints:

Any guesses what the theme is??  

I challenge {EACH ONE OF YOU} to play along!  Trust me - you're NOT going to want to miss any of these projects!!

September Challenge - D2's Sketch - by MicheleMcKay - Water Distressed Flowers

Ingredients:

12x12 scrapbook page

MME So Sophie paper ( for LO and flowers)

BG Glazed brads

Whimsey Alpha Stickers

Hemp

Distressed ink pad (MM brown ink pad from a Distressing Kit)

Instructions:

Cut two pieces of So Sophie paper….one should be 4 ¼” x 12” and 1 ½” x 12”. Adhere the 4 ¼” x 12” piece on the left side of your scrapbook page and the 1 ½” x 12” piece to the right side of the page.

Cut 2 squares (rounded) to 2” x 2 ¾”, 1 square (rounded) 3 ¾” x 3 ¾”, 1 rectangle 2 ¼” x 2 ¾”, 1 rectangle 1 ½” x 2 ¾”, 1 square 2” x 2” and 1 rectangle ¾” x 2”. Distress edges with ink pad.

Adhere larger rounded square 3 ½” in from the right and 4” down from the top of your page. Adhere one of the 2” x 2 ¾” squares above and to the left of the larger square so that it’s touching the larger square about 1” in from the edge. Adhere the other 2” x 2 ¾” square to the right and up a bit so that it also is touching the side of the large square about 1” in from the edge. Adhere 2 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangle ¼” from the top of your page so that it is about 1” from the edge of the square on the left and the right corner is just touching the square to the right.

Below the center square, place the a ½” x 2 ¾” rectangle about ¾” down and over about 1” and adhere to the page. Place the ¾” x 2” rectangle above and to the right of the rectangle and take the 2” x 2” square and do the same thing on the lower right side. (These should be in from the edge only about ¼” from the right.)

Cut out 9 flower shapes approximately 3”x3”. Spray them with water lightly and crumple them up into little balls. Unfold them and stack 3 flowers, alternating colors and staggering them a bit…then poke a hole through the center of the flower. Use a glazed brad and push through the center of the flower and fasten in the back. Do this same thing making 2 more flowers. Once they are dry (takes about an hour or I prefer to let them sit overnight), adhere a flower to the top left square, the top right square and the rectangle below your center square.

On the lower left side of the page, I cut some thin strips of paper of paper and adhered them to the page. The top one is about ½” from the bottom left side of the page, the second one is slightly slanted about ½” down and the bottom strip is about 1” down and slanted. I placed the words “Bloom like A FloWeR” on the strips. I also punched out a couple of buttons from my paper collection and ran some hemp through them and adhered them on random squares. I did have a few little scraps left so I made a ¾” x 3” strip and just alternated the colors and placed it on the right side of the center square , also distressing them with my ink pad. I found a sticker in my pack that said “it’s you”. I felt it was perfect for the page.

Lastly, I found an adorable picture of my youngest and distressed that pic slightly and adhered to the center of the center square.

September Sketch Challenge - by D2 DeeDee - How to Take Better Pictures

Heya CCers!!

The prompt for this month was a hand drawn sketch, and I chose to do my tutorial video on taking photos of your work. You can thank Jazzy Jasmine if this is helpful to you! She said she was having trouble getting good photos, so I offered to help :) Because of that my steps will not be on making the project but on taking photos of the project once it's finished! 

Step1) Find yourself some natural sunlight --- that big ol' ball of light in the sky comes in handy! 

Step2) Find some SHADE in that natural sunlight --- direct light is a bit /too/ harsh. 

Step3) Get yourself a white piece of paper.. cardstock, computer paper.. something stark white, no smudges.

Step4) Put the white paper flat on the ground and place your project on TOP of the paper, but allow the white paper to show from a side of the project--- it will all make sense :)

Step5) Get ABOVE the project and take the photo facing DOWN. It's easiest for you to steady this way, and you can get directly on top of the project making it the center focus... some gals are tall enough to do it themselves.. but I use my porch as the resting spot for the project and I step on the door jam.. which gives me just the right height!

Optional Step) If you're photoing something square.. make the top edge of your piece as parallel to the viewer on your camera as possible.. this cancels out steps later :) 

Step6) Snap snap snap!! I always take tons of photos... you never know when something /might/ be blurry. Optional Step) Zoom in and get some real nice detail shots, try moving the camera to different corners or focus points, the more photos you have to choose from the better your shots will be :) 

 Here is the straight up not edited photos of the project.

Step7) Upload your photos to your computer, and open them in your image editor 

Step8) Move on to the video!

  

And there you have it!! Here are my finished photos!

Hope this helps everyone! They really are very basic steps that will help you show your work off in all it's glory! You do the hard work, let others see it =)

♥DeeDee - D²

September Challenge - D2's Sketch - 2 Step Stamping but Bethd488

Supplies: DS’s layout: MME – American Made (background, strip and block) Alphabet Soup – playing cards for boys American Crafts – ribbon MM – mini silver circle brads BG – undressed chipboard DCWV – mat stacks – classic prints and card stock (letter “k”) SU – naturals white cardstock, brilliant blue ink, riding hood red ink, Big Deal Alphabet stamp set, Sweet Pea stamp set

DD’s layout: MME – Quite Contrary “Little Miss Muffet” (background, strip and journal card) Alphabet Soup – playing cards for girls American Crafts – ribbon MM – mini gold circle brads BG – undressed chipboard EP – Summer Days (letter “b”) SU – naturals white cardstock, tempting turquoise ink, rich razzleberry ink, Big Deal Alphabet stamp set, Reason to Smile stamp set, Garden Whimsy stamp set.

Instructions: Choose patterned paper for background and strip. Cut a 4.5 inch piece for the strip and adhere to background. Select playing cards of choice to match idea of layout. Cut 3.5 inch x 3.5 inch block or choose journaling card for accent piece. Cut 4 inch long piece of ribbon. Adhere everything (cards, pictures, ribbon) to layout with layering desired to make best use of blank space on pictures or cards. Accent ribbon with mini brads. From chipboard choose first letter for title and alter with paper using technique from last month’s project (http://blog.cropchocolate.com/2011/08/august-never-done-it-before-challenge_17.html). Stamp remainder of title using stamp set, and cut letters out. Adhere all letters to layout. Stamp desired image using two-step stamping technique in video. Adhere to layout.

September Challenge - D2's Sketch with Heat Embossing - by Cricutica Paula

Tools:

Product List: Echo Park Victoria Gardens 12x12 Paper - Picket Fence & Windchime Echo Park For the Record Making Memories Animal Crakers Pebble Stickers - Jack Making Memories Paper Reverie Tape - Metallique Making Memories Green Felt Alpha Stickers Making Memories Hul-la-ba-loo Glitter Die-Cuts SU! Pigment Ink Pad in Garden Green SU! Creative Elements Stamp Set SU! Embossing Powder in Clear Heat Gun Instructions: Select 12x12 paper to use as main background sheet Cut another sheet 12x3.5 to layer on top, glue sheet to main page Using Pigment Ink Stamp over both papers. When stamping is complete cover all stamped areas with Embossing Powder removing any excess (SEE VIDEO). Using Heat Gun apply heat to Embossing Powder. Cut contrasting paper sheets into various sizes, customize for photos or embellishments Apply Felt Alpha Stickers and other embellishments.

September Challenge - by Moon Jenn

My technique this month is stamping into embossing powder (as shown on the video). For this layout, I used the September sketch provided by DeeDee.

September Sketch - by JeepMama Paula - Dryer Sheet Flowers

Products Used: Echo Park-Victoria Gardens Making Memories-Pink flowers Making Memories Tool Kit Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Vintage Pink Tim Holtz Distress Ink-Worn Lipstick Tim Holtz Distress Stain Spun Sugar Stickles-Diamond Black Ink-Close To My Heart MIsc Items Used-Ribbon, Ink Dauber & Used Dryer Sheets

Ink Distressing: Using Black Ink Pad, Dauber & Paper/Cardstock Place Dauber on finger, ink up on Ink Pad, Lightly dab Dauber along edges of paper/cardstock, repeat until desired inking level is achieved.

Scissor Distressing: Using Sharp Scissors & Paper/Cardstock Open scissors, please be careful not to cut yourself, holding paper/cardstock firmly run opened scissors along side of paper/cardstock until edges are frayed and possibly slightly cut - always work away from yourself. Repeat until desired level of tattered is achieved.

Dryer Sheet Flowers: Using Used Dryer Sheets, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Vintage Pink, Tim Holtz Distress , Ink-Worn Lipstick, Tim Holtz Distress Stain Spun Sugar, Stickles-Diamond. Cut used dryer sheets into the following count & sizes: 4-3 ½” Circles 1-3” Circles 1-2 ½” Circles 2-2” Circles Spray or ink circles as desired (I would recommend doing the 4 Circles the same), let air dry or dry with heat gun. Fold one 2” circle in thirds, place on piercing tool wtih folded sizes up, layer other 2” circle then 2 ½” circle, next fold one 3 ½” circles in quarter wtih edged uneven, place on piercing tool, continue with rest of 3 ½” circles placing on piercing tool not overlapped, add remaining 3” circle, pierce foam. While holding stack of circles onto foam with one hand, remove piercing tool and insert brad into hole. Remove from foam and open brad. Add Stickles as desired, let dry.

September Challenge - by Alissa (5 Things You Should Know About Rub Ons)

Swimming With Chance by runzalot81. Based on a sketch by DeeDee Catron.

Product List: Paper: Splash by Echo Park Stamps: 7 Gypsies Tools: Paper Studio Embellishments: Splash by Echo Park, Rusted Sun by Fancy Pants, glossy accents 5 Things You Should Know About Rub Ons: 1. No need to cut them out. 2. Make sure the protective sheet is under your hand/arm. 3. Use a pencil on a stubborn rub on. 4. Use a little heavy breathing on a really stubborn rub on. 5. Rub ons are fun and easy to use. Other Helpful Hints: I like to dress up my LOs with rub ons, brads, stamping, and cardstock stickers. I also ink the edges and I added glossy accents to the watery fish accents to add dimension. Leave a comment about your experiences with rub ons! -Alissa

Remember this sketch?? Here’s another fab project brought to you by Jamie!

Card with Rosettes – by Jamie



Materials Used:
Paper: Fine and Dandy by My Mind's Eye
Ribbon: Ivory seam binding
Buttons, pearls,stamps from my stash
Adhersive: Beacon's 3 in 1 glue

Instructions:
1. Cut and fold a piece of cardstock to create a 4.25" x 5.5" card base.
2. Cut a piece of patterned paper 4.25" x 5.5" and adhere to the front of the card.
3. Cut a piece of patterned paper 4" x 5.25" and tie a bow around it.
4. Adhere the bow and paper from step 3 onto the front of the paper in step 2.
5. Punch various circles out of the patterened paper as desired (I used 5/8" and 1 3/4" circle punches).
6. Cut various strips of patterened paper and score vertically every 1/4" (I used strips sized 3/4" x 9" and 1" x 10").



7. Fold the strips on the scorelines like a fan.
8. Adhere the ends of the strips together to create a loop.
9. Push down onto the inner edge of the loop to form a rosette.
10. Adhere the back of the rosette to a circle for stability.
11. Embellish the front of the rosette as desired.
12. Adhere rosettes and circles to the front of the card.
13. Add your sentiment and you are complete!

All Design Team features this month will be based on this fabulous sketch made by our own D2:



September Challenge – 3D Stars
By Corrie



Products Used:
MM pitter patter newspaper
MM pitter patter ABC's
Distress ink
Card Stock
Foam dots
Adhesive

Directions for Stars





1. Cut out a 5 point star
2. Score each point in the middle (5 times)
3. Crease each score line with a bone folder
4. Fold the star along the score lines (this will help shape the star)
5. Unfold the star and shape as necessary
6. Put a foam dot in the middle of the star (on the bottom) and place a thin line of glue along the edge of the entire star. The foam dot will help the star keep its shape.

Challenge time!! What can {YOU} make using this sketch and the 3D's stars? Can't wait to see what you come up with!