Balloon Bowl - by By Belle (Michele)

Hey everyone, by belle here with my first post as a Crop Chocolate design team member.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to be sharing with you!!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Our July theme is ‘Ombre’, it is a technique you may have also heard called gradient.  I did some research and found that the definition of ombre is:  shaded or graduated in tone: said of a color. 

As I am sure is the case with all of us, we have all kinds of great scrap pieces of our favorite papers that we just don’t want to give up hope on using.  I was keeping this in mind when I decided what kind of project I wanted to make my grand entrance with…

My project uses a paper mache technique with standard Elmer’s glue and water.  I made this cute little ‘bowl’. 

You will need:  Elmer’s glue, water, a balloon, small plastic cup, paint brush, scissors and of course, paper.  My paper is MME Lost and Found that I got right here at Crop Chocolate.

After you have selected your paper whether it is scraps or crisp new pieces, start by cutting strips of paper and then cut pieces to be soaked in your glue mixture.  You could even punch shapes if you wanted a more uniform look.  The size of your paper pieces will depend on how big your balloon is.  I used a mini water balloon so my pieces were small.

Mix glue and water, equal parts in a bowl that you can soak you paper pieces in.  Let them soak for a few minutes; you may even want to crumple them a little so they are more flexible.

Start arranging your paper on the balloon making sure there are no spaces that you can see through to the balloon.  When you have all the paper how you want it, paint one more layer of glue mixture, for good measure.  Allow to dry.  I left it alone overnight.

 

When the glue is all dry pop the balloon with a pin or needle and discard the broken balloon.

Trim around the top and seal both inside and out with something like mod podge.  I used Distress Crackle Paint-Clear Rock Candy (that I got at Crop Chocolate) because I love that distress crackle.  Once that was dry I set the bowl down on a flat surface to see how it would sit naturally and then formed the bottom flat a little so it would not roll around.

Embellish as desired.  I made some flowers with scraps of paper and punched holes around the top to lace some celery ribbon around and tied a bow.  I also used from Crop Chocolate:  Liquid Pearls-white, MM button, Doodlebug button, EP Playground (leaves and tag), Distress Ink-Shabby Shutters, MME Lost and Found Madison Ave twine, BG Micro Mono alpha.

Think of all the things you could put in this cute little container, paper clips, buttons, Q-tips, etc.  Or even a cute little diorama, oh the possibilities…

Hope you enjoyed my first project; I certainly had FUN making it!  Oh and I hope that if you try this technique you’ll share it because I LOVE see what others are doing!! 

Chocolatier Design Team Blog Hop!

Hey everyone!  

So, you've made it through the blog hop.  Aren't these ladies FANTASTIC?  Such great projects!!  

(If you are just coming across this blog not knowing what I'm talking about, start here!)

Please make sure you've visited each and commented, as most of them have their own blog candy.

OK - in order to win the {BIG} prize, all you need to do is leave a comment here saying how much you love CropChocolate.com!  I'll draw the winner Tuesday, 7/31 morning.

Thanks for all of your support!!

Amber

Faux Burnt Edging - by Clayton528 (Kathy)

Hi, Clayton528, here . . . or Katherine . . . Kathy . . . Kat . . . or even Kitty Kat as my dad STILL calls me after 40+years.  But whatever you want to call me, just don’t call me late for dinner.  Oh, wait!  I’m the one who cooks, so I can’t be called late for dinner.  But I can be late in making dinner, especially when I’m get busy scrapping.  Or, like this past month or so, forgetting about cooking all together . . . the family doesn’t have to eat every night, right?  J

Okay, I’ll stop with the puns . . . I think I’m as bad as Jon (just kidding, Jon . . . you know we love you).  Anyway, I’m not sure how everyone else felt after receiving our July assignment, but I was worried if I would be able to meet everyone’s expectations.  I mean, we have some pretty big shoes to fill.  But after seeing everyone’s projects, I think we all stepped up to the plate and hit home runs.

Supplies:

CC Products
“Paradise Beach” brown/cream cardstock by Echo Park

“This & That” red/cream cardstock by Echo Park
Weathered Wood distress ink
Stormy Sky distress ink
Faded Jeans distress ink
Walnut Stain distress ink
Making Memories rub-on alphas - brown
“Funday” rhinestones by MME
Snake Tape

NonCC ProductsTim Holtz Ideology Tissue Tape
“Art from Heart” stamps by Wendi Vecchi for Studio 490
“Urban Chic” stamps and clock stamp by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous
Ranger cardstock -white

Tools
Scissors or other distress tool
craft mat
Ink blending tool
baby wipes
paper trimmer

Another note before I begin . . I call the technique I did “burnt edging” because once done the edges look “burnt”.   As you saw in the supplies, you will need 3 colors of ink for this plus one for distressing/”burning”. One light shade (Weathered Wood) for the inner areas, a medium shade for the middle color (Stormy Sky)  and a dark shade (Faded Jeans) for the outer areas.  Then a dark brown or black for the “burning”. I have tried this technique with many color combinations from monochromatic to combinations I never expected to work together.  It's totally up to you . . . experiment and have fun! Because there is NO such thing as a mistake . . . just creative discoveries.  After all, isn’t that what crafting is all about? J

STEP 1   Dab the lightest color of ink (Weathered Wood) onto the Ink Blending Tool and apply to cardstock.  Apply the ink in a circular motion in various spots towards the center of the cardstock.  As you can see in the picture, I left about 2-3 inches of white all around along with some in between where I placed the “Weathered Wood” ink.

STEP 2   Now apply the second color of ink (medium shade – “Stormy Sky”) to the cardstock.  Apply ink in circular motions just as before . . . taking time to blend with the light shade in a few areas.  After applying this layer of ink, there should be about 1” of white along with a few other white areas on the cardstock.

 STEP 3   It's time to apply the dark color (Faded Jeans) to the edges and filling in any areas where there’s no ink.  Then I did an Ink & Drag edging technique. Basically, run the edge of cardstock over the ink pad, lay the cardstock down and using the Blending Tool drag the ink towards the center of the card . . . this gave me yet another darker blue on just the very outer edge.  I also applied a bit more in various areas to get that even darker blue, plus it helped give me a gradient look after doing step 4.

STEP 4   This next step was very messy.  So if you don’t want A LOT of ink on your fingers, I suggest wearing rubber gloves.  I took a baby wipe and, with even pressure, wiped across (horizontal) and then down (vertical) the cardstock.  Continue to do this until you achieve the look you want.  (NOTE: I cut a baby wipe into 2” strips and wrapped a strip on a sponge to help get even pressure.  In the photo, it shows how it looks with even pressure and with uneven pressure . . . it all depends on the look you want to achieve.  Remember . . . there are NO mistakes.)

STEP 5   Now it's time to rough it up a bit!  First, trim cardstock to 8.5”x8.5”.  Save the smaller piece for stamping the verse on later.   Then apply Walnut Stain along each edge.  Then take a pair of scissors (or whatever distressing tool you want) and scrape all of the edges.  Do this until satisfied it looks ragged enough for you.  Remember, there are NO mistakes.  I scraped each side 3 times because I liked getting my edges pretty damaged for a really nice worn look. 

Now, you're going to notice a lot of white may be showing along the distressed edges. You can leave it as is or you can go back over it as I did and add more Walnut Stain.   I went over it 4 times to get rid of the white for a more finished “burnt” look.

The blue background cardstock is now officially "Burnt". Time to finish the layout.

 STEP 6  Using the script stamp from Studio 490 and Weathered Wood distress ink (the light color), stamp various places on the background . . . I did not use an acrylic block with the stamp because I only wanted a little bit of the script to show up.  So I bent the stamp as I was applying it.  Next, using Tim Holtz clock stamp and Walnut Stain distress ink, stamp in upper right corner with part of the stamp going onto the craft mat. 

STEP 7   Take the leftover piece of background from Step 5 and using Tim Holts “Urban Chic” verse stamp and Walnut Stain distress ink, stamp on the verse.  Trim down to the size desired.  Then distress & “burn” it, as instructed in Step 5.

 STEP 8   Now it’s time to put all the layers together.  Cut a 9”x9” square from cream cardstock, distress it with Walnut Stain distress ink and attached “burnt” background to it.  Attach this to the dark brown cardstock at an angle.  Mat your photo . . . I used an old photo of my mom & dad’s wedding and matted it with the same cream cardstock as I did the “burnt” background. Adhere to blue background.  Now it’s time for embellishing . . . place 3 flowers in upper left and lower right corner of matted photo, add a swirl to the upper right corner of photo (NOTE:  I made my own swirl using the leftover plastic from a premade swirl.  I applied tacky glue to where the indentations were and once it was “tacky”, I placed the rhinestones.  After dry, I peeled my “swirl” and adhered to my LO . . . while this saved me from going and buying a premade swirl, a premade one might be easier.)  Using Making Memories rub-on alphas, place title towards the bottom middle of the blue background.  Next, attached verse with pop dots; adhere 3 rhinestones to upper left and lower right corners of brown background.  One last thing I did was put a piece of Tim Holtz tissue Tape to the upper left and lower right corners of the blue background.  Voila!  It’s done.

One last note or two, I tried this with various types of cardstock and got different results with each.  And while each gave its own individual result, I liked the results best with Ranger Cardstock.  Also, I used dye-based inks because water-based inks did not give the same results.  But as I said earlier, experiment and have fun!!!  That’s what crafting is all about.

Guest Designer - What a Turkey! 2 Color Heat Emboss - by Karey2005

County Fair Turkey Scrapbook Lay-out

My first blog!  How exciting!

I can't begin to tell you how excited I was when Amber from MY FAVORITE CRAFT-SITE (http://www.cropchocolate.com) asked me to be the July guest designer!  Then she told me she wanted me to show the gals something new.  Well, let me tell you, that was scary...  There are some really, super talented crafters on cropchocolate!  What could little'ole'me show them? I eventually decided to try something new to me hoping it would be new to some of these crafty ladies!  So here goes!

My DS showed a turkey at the county fair last year and won a blue ribbon in showmanship.  Here's what I decided to use:

 CC Purchased Supplies (most of the paper purchased in fabulous grab bags!)

Two 12x12 Echo Park Merry Go Round

Lettering cut from Echo Park Paradise Beach

Photo background Echo Park Dark Teal

Accents also in EP Teal and Paradise Beach.  Also MME Happy Go Lucky and Echo Park Sunshine

Ribbon Fancy Pants It’s your day

Non-CC Supplies

Light Green and Light Blue Emboss Powder and Versamark Ink

Glitter Brads

CTMH Stamp 

Accent Washi tape

Step 1 - place the pictures on dark teal background paper and cut close trim

Step 2 - my new technique - two color heat embossing.  First, I stamped the image with Versamark, and used a spoon to apply the blue emboss powder in a few spots.

I shook the excess back into my container, then I "houffed" it.  "Houf" you ask?  Well, houffing is like blowing your hot breath against the paper to make sure your Versamark is still damp.  My DH says it's like checking to see if you have bad breath!  Then I spooned the green powder into the blank spots.

This time, I was really careful to only lightly put the excess green back into the container, so I wouldn't contaminate my emboss powder with more than one color.  I shook the last excess last little bit off into the garbage...

Step 3 - heat emboss

Sweet!  Think I'll try this on flowers to see if I can get the tips of the flower a different color than the inside.  Hmmm....the ideas are swirling now! 

Step 4 - I attached the pictures onto the black.....and rounded the corners of the black.

Step 5 - I cut and tore the ends of strips of accent papers and laid them out to see what they would look like...  I added washi tape to the green one to make it pop a little.

Step 6 - I taped it all together, added the "dingle-ball" ribbon (NinaN on CC called it that - I liked it!).......and well, I thought it was missing something, so I created the circle embellishment with a Nestabilities die and a glitter brad and used pop-tape to attach it.

And here's my turkey....

The best part of a turkey lay-out......all the left-overs, of course.  What to do - oh what to do!  I know!  Make lots of cards!  I used some of this for my Challenge 18 - Recipe on Crop Chocolate!  Whoo Hoo.

You'll have to head on over to http://www.cropchocolate.com (in the contests section) to see what I did!

Craftily yours,  Karen (karey2005.blogspot.com)

Pizza Time - by Mom2Two - Jenni

Becoming a DT member was a great surprise, then it hit me.....when Amber told us the first month's project......oh boy, I'm in for one heck of a ride!!  Yes, I did have to look it up, yes I did have to think about how I was going to make something "ombre."  Yes I did ask myself...."what the heck is OMBRE!"  But after much research and a little work, I do like the end result!  I had never owned, let alone sprayed any glimmer mist!  I started with a light colored piece of Bazzill.  Started with the lightest color at the top (tuscan sun), then the next darkest (brick), then the dark (tattered leather).  Be sure to lay down some newspaper or some other kind of drop cloth because you WILL get it everywhere!

After I achieved the look I wanted with the background paper, I needed to add everything else.  when looking for letters I found the red felt letters, but they were the wrong red......so......I sprayed them!  I needed them to be a darker, more brick colored to match the paper.  I love how they turned out!  The bling swirls are papiere reverie sienne, the pizza slice was purchased YEARS ago!  It's made by Deluxe Die Cuts.  I chalked the whole thing, used buttons in place of a couple pepperoni's, but it still needed something......a pizza cutter!  I paper pieced it from a pic I saw on line.....used glossy accents on the blade to make it shiny.  So, don't be afraid to do something you have never done before!  It's all good!

started with Bazzill 2.0 from CC.  Sprayed Glimmer Mist Tuscan Sun at the top, then Brick, then Tattered Leather at the bottom to achieve:

this....completed next to original.

then i just added the page embellishments.

the bling is CC Papiere Reverie Sienne which came also in a HC from CC.

these are the red felt letters from a CC HC that i sprayed with GM, they are now darker red and sparkly!

 the pizza slice (deluxe die cuts, some chalk and some buttons!  The pizza cutter i made myself.

entire layout!

Product list:

CC -- Bazzill 2.0, MM Red Felt letters (HC), MME Jack & Jill 6x6 (red check paper), MM Vintage Findings (dots), Papiere Reverie - Sienne and Brun gems (HC)

Non CC - GM Tuscan Sun, Tattered Leather, Brick, Deluxe Die Cut (Pizza), MM Leather corners, misc buttons and brads.  Bazzill basics gem templates, chalk

Lion Card - by BritK (Brittany)

Hi! I'm so happy to be sharing my first project as a designer with you! Our challenge was "gradient", and while that stumped me for a few days, I decided to make a card and used the gradient on an element. 

Materials Used:

From CC: Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Dried Marigold, Barn Door & Vintage Photo, My Mind's Eye 12 x 12 Animal Soup(Boy) Collection), Sew Easy Stitch Piercer(Pennants), Bazzill Basics Paper Flowers(Stars)

Non- CC: Red Flocking by Recollections, DMC Brown Floss, Alpha Stamps(Studio G), Tattered Angels Creme de Cocoa Glimmer Mist, white cardstock from Core-dinations as the card base & pennant piece.

First thing I did was create my gradient using Dried Marigold & Barn Door. I took a piece of cardstock and worked from either end to the middle, gradually lightening up on the Barn Door & going a heavier with the Dried Marigold. Once I was happy with the results, I gave it a little spritz of water just to make the colors blend a little better and let it dry. Then it got a spritz of Creme de Cocoa Glimmer Mist and I let it dry again. 

Next using the Sew Easy with the Pennant piercing head, I ran it the width of my paper in a few different spots. Using brown DMC thread, I stitched the pennants in(make sure you have enough pennants to spell out what you want). I didn't tie a knot on either end, I was just real careful until a little bit later.

Now being really, really careful(not kidding, I screwed this up once!), fussy cut around the pennants making sure you don't clip any of the thread(front or back, this is where I goofed). Once they're cut out, trim any excess if you feel the need and cut between each pennant to right below the piercing hole(this is so you can shape it a little, otherwise it will just lay in a straight line). Now using a small alphabet stamp set, stamp your phrase. I used "Happy Birthday" in Vintage Photo Ink. 

Next up we're going to cut the card layers. My card is 5" x 7". My top layer is cut at 4.5" x 6.5", the red mat layer is cut at 4.75" x 6.75", and the orange mat layer is 5" x 7"(it fits exactly over my card base). Using the Distress Ink, ink all edges, I used Vintage Photo on the top layer, Barn Door on the red layer & Dried Marigold on the orange layer. 

Okay, time to make the lion cute. The lion is a pre-made element that came in the collection pack. I just jazzed him up a little to make him even cuter. Ink all his edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, it just makes him stand out a little better. And here's the fun part, using a liquid adhesive(I used Scotch Quick Dry) cover his mane & the tip of his tail in the adhesive. I let it sit for about 20 seconds, and then dumped flocking powder on him. Let him sit for another 45 seconds, and then dumped the excess back into the container. Now he's got a fuzzy mane, and it gives some more dimension. 

Time to put the base together. Center each of your card stock layers on the next largest one, and then adhere all 3 layers together to your card base. My card base is made out of white cardstock, I cut it at 10" x 7" and folded it in half. Now glue down your stars. I put 2 of mine so they would be behind the pennant banner and 2 so they would be behind the lion. 

Finishing up, carefully tie a bow on each end of the pennant banners. It'll take a little trial and error to get them just how you want them. Using foam dimensionals, put them on some of the pennants of your banners and then gently attach them where you want them. You can curve them a little like I did or just let them be straight across. The very last thing I did was attach my lion with some more foam dimensionals over the stars. 

I love how this project came out, and I know a great little boy to give this to for his up-coming birthday. I hope you all liked it. 

Spring/Summer Ombre' Cards - by Jeannie

Hello Everyone, I have a special treat for you today.

Today is my first post with Crop Chocolate as part of their Design Team.

I am so excited about this for many reasons.

Crop Chocolate is an amazing community.

I have only begun to get around over there, they have so much to offer.

We are going to be having lots of fun challenges to inspire you with.

Now, without further ado, let's get on with our first challenge.  This is the challenge that the new design team was assigned for our first project.

The theme is OMBRE.

What is OMBRE??

Here is an OMBRE SAMPLER.

It is colors of graduated values used in a project.  The colors of one blend into another.

I have done a couple of cards using 2 different techniques.

Here is my first one.

To create the Ombre look for the background, I used different pieces of patterned paper in the colors that I felt mimicked the Ombre feel.

 To get the real narrow strips I used my favorite die by Cheery Lynn Designs called Wittle Wickers.  This die cuts multiple strips of 1/4" x 5.5" at on time.

I used a scratch piece of paper to build the entire background on, moved the strips around until I liked the pattern and then I glued them all down.  After they were all glued down I took a Scalloped Rectangle Die and Cut the background piece to size.

After that. I embellished the card front as seen in the pictures.

For my nest card, I used a mixture of  Creamy and Metallic Chalks to make by background piece of paper.

 I sealed the colors in using a light coat of modge podge and then embossed the background paper in an embossing folder.

 The Ombre treated paper is very subtle and is a splash of color for this cute summer time card,

I had a lot of fun experimenting with this Ombre design.

I had never heard of it before I made these cards and now I am anxious to try it in different types of projects.

I hope you will join us in exploring this design.

Supplies: Authentique Paper Delightful, Cheery Lynn Designs Dies, Prima Resin Flowers, Stampin' Up Fabric Flower, Misc. Ribbons and Trip, Momenta Paper, Canvas Corp Paper, Imaginisce Chipboard Stickers, Imaginisce Snag 'Em Stamps, Memento Black Ink, Misc. Ribbon.

Stamped Ombre Background - by Scrap Happy (Julie)

How to create an Ombre background for stamping on.

Products used:

5x6 ½ card base

5x6 ½ piece of Sweet Day paper

3 ¼ x 31/4 Echo Park card stock Wintetime (Pine Green)

3x3 white card stock from stash

Echo Park Note to Self cream cs for decorative squares (6) and small heart

Tim Holtz distress inks in Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, and Shabby Shutters

Computer journaling – “true friend” on Note to Self cream c.s.

Any small stamp – I used a butterfly from Paper Wishes (non CC)

A stamp to add texture to the heart – I used a swirl from Fancy Pants Whimsy stamp set.

2 ½ inch die cut ‘f’ – could be chipboard, cardstock, grunge board

Baker’s twine

Sponge

Various adhesives

I first attached a piece of Sweet Day designer paper to the front of a 6 ½ x 5 inch card base, then inked the edges of the card front with Tim Holtz Evergreen distress ink.

I started the Ombre with a 3x3 piece of white cardstock.  I started with my darkest ink color at the bottom, getting lighter as I went up.  I used one sponge for the whole project, liking how it blended together.  

After I got the Ombre layers how I liked them, I began stamping the butterflly image using the same colors of ink in the same layers, turnin the butterflies, and having some of them off the paper to give it movement.

After stamping all the butterflies on the Ombre backround, I also stamped 6 small decorative squares  (mine were 7/8 “) and a small heart, using the same ink colors.

I inked the large ‘f’ (cut out on the Cricut using the Base Camp font cartridge at 2 ½ inches) using TH Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers.  I punched a small hole in the heart, threaded bakers’ twine through it, and hung it from the ‘f’.

Then, all I had to do was some finishing touches.  I attached the ombre layer to EP pine green CS, then attached it to the card front.  I used foam squares to emphasize the ‘f’ and make it stand out from the other elements, then attached it to the ombre layer. I computered journaled the “true friend” sentiment, and angled it behind the ‘f’.  I glued 2 pieces of baker’s twine to the card front using a glue pen and a ruler.

Then, the only thing left is to attach the 6 decorative squares to the card front.  I used foam squares again on these.   Here’s the finished card and a close up.

Dip-Dyed Paper - by Christina

  

Supplies Needed:

Crop Chocolate Supplies:

White paper from inside an album sleeve

FP Lilac House-Garden Gate

FP Memo Notebook -2 pages

Slice-Seasons card

Plastic packaging form Calender kit

Bling from various sticker packs

29th Street -Carefree Graceful

Butterfly stamp-Summer Soiree

Tatter Angels glimmer mist

Non CC:

Rit Dye-Black&Purple

Embossing Powder

random ribbon

black paint

Perfect Pearl Mist

OK - I began by mixing a strong solution of purple dye.I then lay that in a cookie pan and lay my paper into that. 

It was taking a long time to color and I am an impatient person so I took the paper out and lay it on paper towels.

I then sprinkled purple dye powder on top.Once the grains were dissolved,I brushed across the page and then added a bit more water.

I then sprinkled the black where I wanted it,made sure all the dye was wet and waited.

It only took about 10 mins to get the look I wanted.I brushed off the rest and rinsed it quickly .I lay it back onto paper towels and let dry for a bit.  Again since I didn't want to wait..I used my heat gun to dry it some more.

The next step was to add a bit of black paint.I used the edge of cardboard and stamped and dragged to get the look I wanted.

I then used my Glimmer mist to create some circles in a few spots.

The perfect pearls mist I sprayed onto this plastic grid thingy and stamped onto my paper in a few spots.I then lay it down and sprayed over top to create a slightly different look.

I used my butterfly stamp to emboss a few around the page and began cutting 1 inch,2 inch and 3 inch butterflies from Lilac house and my notebook paper.  Some of these were distressed with brown ink and some were left alone.

I stitched a square piece of plastic onto the front (my machine did not like this step at all but I did it anyway).Added a few embellishments ,all my butterflies,which I then had to remove a few cause it just didn't look right and added some bling,a cute picture and voila!

Dip dYed paper.I think this would look really cool with black bats instead of butterflies for a Halloween page.