Monochromatic Challenge with All That Scraps

Every wednesday, All That Scraps has a new challenge for it's fans

(and i must admit, it's been too long since i've played along, shame on me!)

Today's challenge is a Monochromatic challenge and I felt so honored when my friend, Lesa, asked if she could use my video tutorials and if i'd like to play along with the challenge!

Well, DUH! I love the CC Designs images that All Thats Scraps has AND you KNOW that i just love love love to color in monochromatics so I was definitely up to play!

Here is my card for you using a stamp from the Swiss Pixies collection. This particular sweetie is named Gretel and you can get her in both rubber and digi form!

Now coloring in Monochrome or Monotone does not mean that it has to be "black and white".

In fact, you can really have some stunning outcomes by sticking to all one COLOR.

And if you happen to follow my blog, you may have seen my last bought of monochromatic fun-ness using various colors on THIS post)

For this challenge, i decided to stick with that made me fall in love with monochromatics, black and white! I love seeing stamped images in black and white, it makes me think of black and white photos, which i also love!

For this card, i chose the neutral gray family. Now, any of the grey families work great for a

b & w card, but you do want to make sure that all of your grays are from the SAME categories. using a c1 with a w3 just wouldnt look right at all!

For those who might not know copics, or are new to copics, the letter in a grey copic determines the "temperature" of the gray. A C is a cool grey, a W is a warm grey. Those 2 seem pretty self explanatory, but what about the other 2?! Well, the N stands for Neutral (which i've used on my card today and are a very safe grey color family because it's well... NEUTRAL. The last of the 4 is the T category which stands for Toner grey. What the heck is "toner" grey? Well, before my love affair with copic markers... if you had said "toner" to me, i would have thought of 2 things... washing my face, and dying my hair! Yeah i know, beauty on the brain. But hey, it's what i do. In both instances however... it boils down to the same thing. Toner neutralizes. For you face, toner helps to neutralize the pH levels and cleanse the skin. For your hair, particular for someone with light hair whether it's grey or bleached, a toner is added to help neutralize brassy tones, etc. So, toner... is to neutralize.

Well what the heck, isnt the N for neutral?! Haha, yes. If you were to line up the copic greys from coolest to warmest it would go Cool, Neutral, Toner, Warm. Both neutral and toner are in the middle ground, not too cool not too warm. But toner still has more warmth to it than neutral. Does that make any sense? I hope so, because now i've babbled on entirely too long about the hues of grey!

Back to my card!

So i used the neutral grey family. The thing you'll want to remember with any monochromatic coloring is that 2 parts that touch that would be different colors, need be be different in light or dark, as to not look flat. Example, her shirt (which has a base color of n2 needs to be different frm her romper which i colored a basic of n6. If they were both too similar, the colors would all run together and the overall image wouldn't "pop" as much. I apply this rule to each section that touches. Shirt to romber, shirt to skin, hair to skin, etc. I just think it helps the overall look.

Here's the breakdown... Hair N8, N6, N4, little bit of N2

Skin... N1, N0

Shirt... N3, N2

Romper, Boots... N8, N6, N5

I did use a white gel pen to put the white back in her eyes (easier than trying to color around!)

And i also added some white dots to her cheeks. This helps break up the flatter color since typically i'd add more pink there.

So thats my postie for you today! Be sure to check out the All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge for more FANTASTIC samples by the design team and to play along yourself!

If you have any interest in checking out the monochromatic videos i've done, here are some quick links...

Warm Greys 1, Warm Greys 2, Cool Greys

And if you'd like to check out any of my other Monochromatic posts you can click HERE.

Thank you SOOOOO very much to checking into my blog and have a wonderful day!!!!

Read more...

Happy Friday Everyone with CC Designs

Summer is almost here!  I'm so excited!  I love summer.  Now granted, it gets really really really hot here in the summer and thats not always fun.  But last summer i was waaaay pregnant during it so this summer should be a piece of cake, right?

Jack's preschool is doing a silent basket auction.  Yes,  i mentioned a basket auction before.. this is a different one.  Same church though, so same idea.  Each class does a basket.  The 2 year old class is a pool theme basket.  So my donation was to make 8 pool party invitations.  I wanted to keep them easy enough ( i didnt have a lot of prep time!) and generic.  Not birthday pool party invites, just a hey, come to the pool with us!  The winner of the basket can use them in singles or all together.  Their choice.  :)

Card Info
Stamp: Image is CC Designs Summertime Fun (FYI its on sale right now at www.allthatscraps.com), sentiment is just something i printed out form my computer using one of my favorite fonts from www.kevinandamanda.com
Paper: i dont have a clue! It was all scrappy paper! :)
Copics: E35, E37, E39 for my monkey friend; Y18, G16, R27, B00, B02 I kept the colors simple because i was doing a lot of them. :)



**This weekend I will be teaching a copics class at Scrapbook Heaven in Lexington South Carolina. Just wanted to throw that out there. :)

Read more...

Day 2 in 29 Gifts and a CC Designs Card

Today is day 2 in my 29Gifts challenge. Today was pretty easy... We had a birthday party to go to. It's one of jack's little gal friends. Her name is Elle and we've known her since Jack was about 3 months old. We got her lots and lots of dress up stuff which was a pretty big hit at the party. I'm not sure Elle played with any of it, but all the other kids took a piece (even many of the boys) and paraded around with skirts, tiaras and lacy gloves.

Now i know making a card for a 3 year old is pretty silly, but since more than not of my mommy friends have all picked up the stamping and card making habit, we really just do it for each other. :) So this is the card that i made for Elle this morning before the party...



I used an image from CC Designs Gingersnaps Hey Cupid. I was given some images to play with from my wonderful "bella sistah" Jacquie. I'm lovin' the images. I hate when you love images so much you're afraid to use them since you know you dont have the stamp! haha. Luckily she gave me a couple of each. :)
That teal paper in the background with the cool embossing is the new paper by Bazzill. It comes with those dots. LOVE it!!!

Here's a closer look of the little angel...


She's colored with copic markers and if you look carefully you can see the spica pen that covers her wings.

Thats about it for today. With any luck i'll get my entry done for Jen Del Muro's Blog Candy. But somehow i'm thinking i'm going to miss this awesome giveaway. *sigh* so is life! :)

Read more...

ATS Design Team Challenge

I cant believe it's already friday!!!! This week just flew by me! I actually was pretty successful at getting some stamping done this week. Gotta love that! Tomorrow i have a wedding to do. But i have some other things to post so there will be something, for sure! :)

I've been wanting to get into the All That Scraps challenges for sometime. I have looked at them every week since i discovered their blog... but only recently started to do them. But they are fun! So you should definitely check them out. A new challenge is posted every wednesday.
This week was a sketch challenge. I'm somewhat limited on my CC designs sets (well i have 4 sets and some images from other sets). Its a "problem" i'm slowly working on to fix. haha. But i havent gotten to use my birthday set much just yet, and BONUS we have jack's giiiiiiiiiirlfriend's bithday party to go to on the 22nd. So my card is now done! Woohoo! It always feels so good to be ready for something a little early. Now if i can just remember to get her birthday present before the 21st! :)

So here is the sketch from All That Scraps. The design team has some über cute cards many of which use the sets that will very soon be released on Monday November 10th! I will never get enough of the monkeys and doggies and bears. Man of Man! They are my absolute favs of the CC designs (though Amy's are eagerly fighting for all my attention!). So dont forget to check i out and go to their forum for the release party!


So here is my take on the sketch. I just love the sentiment that comes with this set. Maybe it shouldnt be all about the presents... but come on... it's a 3 year old's birthday party. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PRESENTS! I colored my image with copic markers and just wasnt satisfied. I jazzed it up with lots of spica pens and the whole thing just shimmers! It's SO fun. Of course none of that shows up in the photo. Bugger. But Lauren will love it and thats what really matters. :)

Thanks for peeking in again! Keep posted for a few more challenge cards i was able to knock out today!!!!

Read more...

2nd post for the day - All That Scraps Challenge #24

Ok, so i know i said i'd be back with my card for my sketch... but i lied. Well, not entirely. I will be back with that, but i had started this project yesterday and i wanted to finish it (and clean off my craft table!) before i started on a new project. Even though i'm not currently on any design teams, i still feel like i have so much crafting to do this week! WHy? Because everyone has new stamp releases coming out and with these sneak peeks i want them all! And it seems like each company has challenges, and sketches, and prizes to be won! Oh i love it! So, with the recent no spending and use up what i have motto (imposed much more so by my husband than myself), the opportunity to win the stamps means a happier husband. haha. If not, i'm just going to seriously try to work some magic because all these new releases are steller!

Ok, back to my project...

Who says halloween has to be over after october? I had an idea to do something cute with a box and halloween pictures so when i read the All That Scraps challenge for this week (read the blog entry here) i thought, oh this will be perfect!

So i made my pizza box using this tutorial and then used some images from the september CC Designs releases. I colored my little "bat bear" with copic markers and used patterned paper from reminisce.


For the inside i put together a sort of "jacob's ladder" only much simpler. To do this, i simply cut square pieces of chipboard to fit inside the box. I connected them using pieces of grosgrain ribbon. My ribbon does not run down each chipboard square though it looks like it does. I cheated and just used strips about an inch and a half long and glued them to the chipboard using fabritac (which is a super strong adhesive, acid free, but bonds ribbon to paper like cement!). Then i topped each piece of chipboard (front and back) with a piece of black cardstock. Then i decorated each square piece (front and back)

So when you open the box you see this...


And as you lift the ladder (using ribbon i looped on the top piece) you see the ladder of different chipboard squares. Keep in mind there are no photos. Each year i will add the halloween photo from that year. By the time the boys are about 10, it will be full! But i can always add more pieces. The backside will have photos as well. But i wanted you to see the project without photos since i only have a couple of years to put on there for now!
Here's a picture of the ladder...


and here's 2 photos so you can see what the ladder (which is removable) looked like.



Thanks for stopping by for a 2nd time today!

Read more...

Scratching the itch with a CC Designs Card and Project

PHEW! My sister left town yesterday. :*( It was a LOT of fun having her here. She was a tremendous help around the house, and with Jack. But we also wanted to do a lot of fun things. Thursday we picked Jack up from school and then i took a nap! It was glorious. But i really did it on the wrong day because boy was i beat by the time time her visit was over. haha. Friday we ran errands but also got cookie dough and frosting (and a movie) and she and Jack made cookies while i did something, i cant remember what now! Saturday we went to Chuck E Cheese. Sunday we went to Niven's Apple Tree Farm and monday we just kinda hung out until it was time to go to the airport.

I didnt craft at all. I did play online and look at blogs, got my blog redone, etc. But let me tell you - i've really been in the mood to get crafty! I've got so many projects i want to work on. Stamps i want to use. Cards i want to make. They have been running thru my head like CRAZY this weekend.

So finally today i got to scratch the itch a bit. I cleaned a bit and did a LITTLE bit of reorganizing and then i got to work on a card and small gift for a couple at my church that just had a baby. Here is the picture before i dive into the details...

I was very pleased with how it turned out. Of course it's hard to not love these images from CC Designs available from All That Scraps. I just recently got this set called Rubber Ducky. I'm so in love with it! I knew right away when my friend from church had her baby that i just HAD to do something with this set.

My sister had brought these little tins that had posable animal stick figured in them for Jack. So i snagged the tins and repurposed them. Then I played with my other fun hobby, soap & beauty making! I actually had wanted to create my own line of beauty and bath products while living in LA but then i decided to have kids instead. haha. But i'm still "into" making my own bath products. Its terrific to do for babies because you use pure ingredients without all of the additives that are harsh for their so soft and delicate skin! 1 tin i made some "bum balm", 1 tin i made baby body butter, and then the 3rd tin i made some Baby Bath Soak. I used a circle punch to make some labels for the bottom of the tins. :)
The tops of the tins i used some left over papers from my card with Stampin Up's scallop circle and 1 3/8th punch. I also tried something a little new (for me). i stamped my rubber ducky onto the colored cardstock and color him with copics. I figured since it was yellow coloring on yellow it shouldnt be too bad. I like the affect. The duck doesnt stand out so brightly like it would on white which was nice to me.
Here's a closer look at the tins.

You can see that i put the tins in a little "tub" that i found a bit back at the dollar section at target. I LOVE that section! I buy stuff there all the time and it goes in my "to alter" chest which is actually quite large and perhaps a little sad that it's FULL! and I have another box of things in the closet! I know, get to altering already! :) Underneath the tins are some coiled up baby washcloths. I couldnt find a little plastic bottle around my house (i have MILLIONS from decanting makeup supplies, but they have disappeared! So once i find them, i'll fill it up with some grapeseed oil. Grapeseed oil is extremely close to the property of your skin (as is jojoba oil, but thats a wee bit thicker and also pricier). Grapeseed oil is much better for baby skin than just baby oil which is really a mineral oil. (More info than you may want to know, but i cant help it, it's the makeup gal in me... the molecules in mineral oil are actually larger than your skin cells. So it just sits on top of your skin. Grapeseed oil will actually absorb into your baby's skin protecting it, keeping it soft, etc). And it's fantastic to do little baby massage rub downs. Most babies love massages and it's a great way to have a quiet moment with your wee one. :)

Ok, thats all for today! everyone is sleeping in my house right now crashed out on the couch. I'm in debate of sneaking away to craft (what i want to do) or hitting the hay myself (what i neeeeeed to do). We shall see. :)

Read more...

trying to not fall over

Ok, so it was a ROUGH night last night in my house.

The baby was wanting to eat every hour or 2. He's SLIGHTLY feverish. So i think it was just a comfort thing for him and helped him to go back to sleep which bonus, keeps his fluids up so i let him. But it meant i had to be very tired. Then at 4 all "you know what" hit the fan... literally. I mean just as i finished nursing him he pooped and it went up the the back of his neck! And all over me and my pillow since thats what i lay him on when i'm nursing in the middle of the night. So i get him, then me, then my bed all cleaned up. by now it was 5. I went upstairs to get a new pillow case and i hear a thud. My 2 year old JUMPED out of bed. He told me he almost fell ot of bed because it was wet, so he had to jump. Sure enough, he was soaked and his sheets were a little wet. So i strip him, get him cleaned up, then his bed. By this time, the baby wanted to eat again because it was about 6. And the 2 year old was up and ready to play by 7:30 because he had gone to bed early the night before. So yes... needless to say i'm tired today! Pray for me that they both take a nap (and at the same time) so i can too!

Ok, onto my card that i actually worked on mostly yesterday and just added my final touches today.

The challenge on Stamp Challenges this week was to make something for a friend. How convenient... i already wanted to make something for a friend of mine. But working on little sleep and little mojo, i decided to use a sketch challenge from I{heart}2stamp.com. I'm a big fan of sketches. Especially when the mojo is low. I still had a hard time with this one and i had a sketch to go off of! Irgh. For some reason i just couldnt get it to look right. But i've given in. I think it's still a decently cute card. I'm including some stamped images for my friend as well. I will leave her nameless, just in case she happens to read my blog. But she deserves some time to relax and color some. :)

Ok, onto the card already!



I used my new CC Designs stamp set that i ordered to teach a class with at The Scrapbook Company. Too bad they gave us a week to tell us they are closing down. I know i know, i already posted about that. But i'm still bitter.
The set was released last month and is called Rubber Ducky. You can get the stamps at All That Scraps
The paper is some that i picked up at Hobby Lobby so i think the maker is probably The Paper Studio but i cant be positive on that as i just used some scraps for this card. I love the colors though. I used my copic markers to color my little monkey friend. And liquid pearls to add in my little accents on the sides of my card.

Thats pretty much it. Now of course i wanted to get the card out in the mail today along with some other things, but it's a holiday. I totally forgot about that. So they'll all go in the mail tomorrow.

I have a couple of craft projects i'd like to get done before my sister gets into town on Thursday (i'm SO excited). So we'll see if any of them get accomplished. Of course if a nap from the kiddos happens today, craft projects will not be worked on then. I'll be sleeping!

Thanks for stopping by!

Read more...

CC Designs, Bear Hugs

This is a card i made to showcase at The Scrapbook Company (one of my local stores, and the store that i teach at). I was basically given a paper line (one i happen to like quite a bit) and asked to make some cards to show off the paper. So cards i made! I'd still like to make a couple more (so far i have 2). But for today i'll just show the one i made with my new CC Designs stamp that just arrived in the mail today! You can pick up the stamp set yourself at All That Scraps. You'll notice if you take a peekie poo at the stamp set that the bears are actually 2 separate stamps. I made a mask of the bear sitting down (see details on masking at end of post) and stamped the other bear to be standing slightly behind him. The bears were colored in with twinkling h20's. It's a medium that i use far less regularly than my beloved copics but give a beautiful shimmery finish (and it's a coloring medium they sell in the store - another bonus for them!).
The patterned paper is by Cherry Arte as is the chipboard tag that i simply covered with paper. All cardstock used is by Bazzill.

The sentiment stamp has a funny story to it that i just must share. It's by Studio G and i know i've used this particular sentiment time and time again because i think it's just so cute. Then as i stamped it out, i gasped! There was a typo! The word Little actually said Litte - there was no second "L". The sentiment was still perfect in size for the littl circle that was already punched out of my little chipboard tag, so i simple drew a straight line after my t so finish the word. Still, i'm so so sad as i love this sentiment and i just with it was spelled correctly! I'm wondering if i just got a boogered stamp or if they are all this way! All in all, i find it pretty amusing. This is what i get for using a stamp that came from a set that was only a buck. But what am i saying... i do love the studio g's! I think i have them all! hahaha!


Ok - here's some tips i have for masking. Masking if you havent seen a tutorial before, or read a blurb on my blog about it... is super super easy. Basically all you have to do is stamp out an extra image of your stamp on a scrap sheet of paper. Then just cut the image out right against the black line. Some people prefer to do this using a post it note so they have a sticky back. This also works well because the paper is thin leaving little distortion against the 2 images. I however, prefer to use a scratch piece of cardstock because i never throw a mask away (ok, i do when it's no good anymore). I then put a bit of repositionable adhesive on the back and i stick it inside of the stamp case so it can be used next time.
Ok, that said, you've made your mask. Now stamp that same image onto what paper or cardstock you plan on using. Apply your mask right on top of your already stamped image and then stamp again where you want your image to appear to be behind the first image. Now in my case today, my cardstock mask made it a little more difficult to get a crisp image right up to my first image. I just took a simple black pen (in this case my favorite fine tip by creative memories) and drew in the teeny missing part. Easy as pie!

Thanks for visiting and if you have any other questions that i didnt cover, feel free to leave a comment! But please remember to leave me an email or a way to contact you to answer your question!

Read more...

OCC Challenge - dry embossing

Our Creative Corner
had a challenge posted on their blog to use dry embossing on a card! I'm really hoping i'm making the deadline on this one for the challenge! but even if i'm not in the running to win any of their fabulous prizes, i had fun completing the challenge and also used a stamp set that i had yet to ink up!

My supplies:

Stamps: C C Designs Summer Time Fun
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Patterend Paper: American Crafts
Cardstock: Stampin Up
Embossing Folders by CuddleBug : Spots and Dots and Swirls
Brads and thread from my "stash"
Scallop Circle cut by Accent Essentials Cricut Cartridge

Read more...