Cocoa Daisy- Creating With Old Kits #1

My scrap space is FULL of stuff! Even after all the times I have cleaned up and cleared out, I still have a large amount of stuff, that I can't part with. Years of collecting Cocoa Daisy scrapbook kits take up a significant amount of my space. Each month I go back through my Cocoa Daisy collection and try to pull kits I want to play with. Many of these kits are only partially used and live in their original bags except for the embellishments that tend to add bulk. So any embellishments that aren't flat are in smaller bags with the kit date, so I can locate them when I am using the kit.

Today's 12x12 layout uses a current picture and a very old kit. The kit I am using is Verandah from June 2009. 

I am pleased with my layout, and upon completing it, I found myself reminded that the people who will be looking at this layout and reading this story have no idea how old my supplies are. More importantly, they don't care how old my stuff is, they care about the memory. Such a great reminder and encouragement to pull out what you have been hoarding and use it to tell your story.

And here is my layout:

A couple of things I love about this layout:  

• First of all, my sweet, funny Jude, he has become quite entertaining and more amusing in the last few months. This personality has always been right under the surface and would sneak out occasionally around family and close friends. But since completing a year of school, it tends to sneak out more often, even in public. Love him!
•  I remember loving the Collage Press Knave of Hearts Collage Cuts Die Cut Rings when I first got this kit 10 years ago, I just never used it. I looked for a single image of this paper, but couldn't find one. So if you look at the above image of the kit, it is the bottom right paper. The paper was die cut rings of about 6-8 different sizes and shapes. I still have the remaining rings and the 12x12 paper they came from. I am currently brainstorming about how to use them.
• I love the wooden stars on this layout. They aren't from the kit but from my stash. Some are Cocoa Daisy exclusives, and some are from a package that Studio Calico put out years ago. I went through a significant phase of collecting stars, since using too many hearts on "boy" layouts was kinda weird to me. So I consider stars to be the manly version of hearts.
• I still love a good tag for my handwritten journaling. I need all the lines to keep it straight. 
• I seriously hoarded the Lilybee Design ABC Stickers (Jude's name & the date on the layout). There were over 1,000 stickers per 12x12 page, and they were the perfect size.
• I also used brads from my stash and a chipboard sticker from a Teresa Collins Decorative Buttons set. I hoarded those too. 

As I bagged up this kit, I was mentally planning to what I wanted to do with some of the other kit elements:

• The floral mask from Heidi Swapp would make a great stenciled background for some of the K & Co Amy Butler Lotus Butterflies Die Cuts on a card. Or cards, since I have so many left over. I also kept the negative of the Butterfly 12x12 die cut paper. That negative space would make a great stencil as well. For reference that particular die cut paper is on the bottom left of the kit image. 
• I love the Jenni Bowlin Rhinestone Buttons. I love buttons on all kinds of projects, but the bulk of these is a bit more than I usually like for a 12x12 page. But they would be great for an Off the Page kind of project. 

Color Throwdown #550

This week's Color Throwdown is another lovely color scheme. I will say I worried going in that what I created would come off too Christmas-y or too Watermelon-y, but I ended up liking what I created.

I created two different floral cards using the color scheme as it was given and I also created three smaller "teacher" cards that pretty much stick to the color scheme, with a slight variation on one of them. I find that it is faster to make multiple cards within the same color scheme than to spend tons of time switching up colors.

For this card, I started with a white card base and splattered it with black paint. I then die cut three stitched frames and adhered them together using the Stitched Rectangle Die set from Simon Says Stamp. The floral images are Beautiful Flowers 2 from Simon Says Stamp as well. I stamped them onto Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock and then colored them with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, Candied Apple, and Spun Sugar. I also used Prismacolor colored pencils to darken some of the areas on the flowers. I then fussy cut around all the watercolored floral images. 

The sentiment is from the Beautiful Day stamp set from Altenew. I stamped it in Versamark onto a scrap piece of black cardstock and then heat embossed it in white embossing powder. I adhered the sentiment onto the card base using foam adhesive tape. I built around the sentiment using the fussy cut floral images. To finish the card, I added sequins and gems from my stash.

For this second card, I wanted to use my Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils. They had been gathering dust in a drawer with some other crafting mediums & I tried to push my creativity a little. The stamped image is an older one from Hero Arts called Striped Flower (CG255). I stamped it repeatedly onto a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor card stock and then colored it with the Apple Green Inktense pencil and then used Tim Holtz's watercolor brush to spread the color. The red flower was watercolored using the same technique, but with a heavier hand and more of the Poppy Red Inktense pencil being used. Once dry, I went back over the image using red Prismacolor colored pencils to darken parts of the image. I also used Stickles to add sparkle to some of the red images in the center. The red image is popped up on foam tape. 

The sentiment came from the Beautiful Flowers 2 stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. It was stamped in Versamark ink and then white heat embossed onto a scrap of black cardstock.

The stamped and colored panel was matted on black card stock and then adhered to a premade white card base.  I finished it with a scattering of sequins from my stash & a few more drops of Stickles.

My three "teacher' cards came together pretty quickly because I had already adhered patterned paper from 6x6 paper pads to a set of white notecards I picked up in the Target dollar spot ages ago. 

All the sentiments are from the Thank You Teacher stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. The smaller apples are from a super old woodblock stamp set from Hero Arts called Four Apples (LP125). They were watercolored using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Candied Apple, Mowed Lawn and Shabby Shutters, once dry they each got a coating of Glossy Accents. The "Education is the Most..." sentiment was die cut using an ancient die set from Sizzix??, I don't have a link or even a name for that die set.  The other apple image is from the mini blueprints Schoolhouse stamp set from Tim Holtz and is colored the same as the other two. 

Thanks for stopping by. I am looking forward to next weeks Color Throwdown!

Color Throwdown #549

I absolutely love the color scheme for this week's Color Throwdown.

I created a couple of cards using this color scheme and then I created another two using orange, blue, and green. I will take all four cards to school to put in my collection for teachers to use when they need a card for a co-worker or friend. I also create smaller kid cards for teachers to give to students as encouragement. 

Card One using the CTD 549 color scheme:

For this one, the background is done on watercolor paper that is inked with a combination of Carved Pumpkin and Abandoned Coral Distress Ink on a Tim Holtz stencil I picked up at Michael's. I spritzed the background with water to soften the edges. The stamped images are from the Delicate Flowers stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. The blue flower is inked and watercolored using Chipped Sapphire Distress ink and the leaves are watercolored with a gray Zig Marker. Once dry the flower and leaves were coated with the Wink of Stella glitter pen. The sentiment is from the same Simon Says Stamp set and covered with Glossy Accents. The card is finished with a scattering of sequins from my stash.

Card Two using the CTD 549 color scheme:

This one started with an older Hero Arts background stamp called Leaf and Floral Background stamped in Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink onto Neenah 80lb white cardstock. The floral image and leaves are from the Delicate Flowers stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. The flower is watercolored on watercolor card stock using Distress Ink in Carved Pumpkin and Abandoned Coral. The leaves were watercolored using a gray Zig Real Color Brush Marker. The sentiment is from an older Hero Arts stamp set (CL 272). Because of the busy background, I used a circle of vellum to diffuse a little of the background and make the flower stand out more. The images were covered with Wink of Stella glitter pen & the center of the flower is filled with Glossy Accents. The card is finished with orange and clear gemstones from my stash.  

The additional two cards I made don't follow the color scheme exactly, but I had a couple of patterned paper card bases that need to be finished, so I stayed with the orange and blue and created these last two cards. 

The stamped images are the same as the other two cards and are colored using the same colors. The leaves were colored with a mix of Pine Needles, Lucky Clover, Shabby Shutters, and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. Both sentiments are from older Hero Arts Clear Stamps and each card is finished with sequins and pearls from my stash.

Watercolored Valentine Cards

Today I want to share two Valentine Cards I made using Distress Watercoloring. I created these for Jude's kindergarten teacher and teacher's aide.

  The background was created using an older Hero Arts cling background stamp embossed in white onto Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock. I then ink blended Spice Marmalade and Barn Door Distress Ink over the embossed image. To add depth, I then used the same Distress Ink colors to watercolor all the hearts on the background. I die cut a heart out of the center of the background to create a shaker window. The window is covered with acetate and the shaker well was created by die cutting the same heart into red fun foam sandwiched between the background and a white piece of cardstock. The sequins in the shaker are Lucy's Cards Tropical Paradise Sequin Shaker Mix. The "Sending" Die was die cut from red glitter cardstock and adhered to the top of the acetate. The black sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp Sending and Wishing stamp set. More sequins from Lucy's Cards and gems from my stash were added to complete the card. 

I absolutely love how these turned out! I can't wait for Jude to share them with his teachers on Thursday.

30 Day Coloring Challenge

I am participating in The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge, check out how it works here.

Before I committed to the challenge this time (I've tried before, but didn't get the full 30 days in), I laid out some ground rules for myself:

1. To use materials I already had on hand

2. To fix mistakes & live with the results vs. starting over if I didn't like it

3. To try new techniques or to relearn things I've done before

4. To complete projects with my daily coloring. 

After 10 days, I am still going strong! So today I want to share some of my completed cards and a general statement of how I created them. 

I used the Simon Says Stamp Elizabeth background stamp embossed in white on Tim Holtz watercolor paper. The color was added using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and Distress Ink in Spun Sugar. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Snarky Small Talk Stickers. I finished this card using cardstock and gems from my stash. The sequins are from Lucy's Cards Tropical Paradise. 

This card started with an older woodblock background stamp from Hero Arts embossed in white on Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock. The light blue is Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and the darker blue is Mermaid Lagoon. The leaf die is Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Bigz and it is dipped in Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint Distress Ink mixed with Perfect Pearl Mist. The love die and sentiment are from Simon Says Stamp Kristina's Love stamp and die set. The small heart dies are from an older die set & the sequins are from my stash.

This card background was created by ink smooshing Distress Ink in Spun Sugar and Abandoned Coral. The stamps are from the Simon Says Stamp Kristina Love stamp set. The thick lines of "Love" are watercolored with Abandoned Coral and then covered with Glossy Accents. The heart dies are from an older die set and the sequins are from Lucy's Cards Tropical Paradise.

This background was created by ink blending Spun Sugar and Barn Door Distress Ink, then splattering Perfect Pearl Mist onto the inked background. The sentiment from Kristina's Love stamp set was embossed in white and colored with Barn Door Distress ink. The sequins are Lucy's Cards Ice Crystal sequin mix.

This card was created using an older woodblock Hydrangea stamp from Hero Arts and the sentiment is from an older set by them as well. Both are embossed in gold embossing powder along with the edges of the card. The flower image is watercolored with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and Tumbled Glass Distress Marker. The completed piece is mounted on cardstock from my stash and then added to a white card base. 

I'll be back in a week or so with more completed projects using my 30 Day Coloring Challenge pieces. 

Color Throwdown #529

Color Throwdown #529 has a nice, warm feel. Which is a nice change from the whites & blues of winter and the reds & pinks of Valentine's.

I used a piece of Strathmore Briston Smooth Cold Press watercolor paper for my base and Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mustard Seed to ink smoosh the background. The butterfly stamp is from the Tim Holtz  Distress Watercolor  Kit. The butterfly is stamped in Archival Black ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I watercolored the butterfly using Distress Ink in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Barn Door. The butterfly trail stamp is from an older Cocoa Daisy stamp set, and the sentiment is from the You stamp set and is from Simon Says Stamp. The piece is finished with Simon Says Stamp Summer Gold sequins and red gemstones that I picked at Michaels. The whole thing is matted on a piece of red cardstock and then placed on a white card base.

This card was quick to make and perfect for an upcoming friends birthday.

Color Throwdown #528

This week's Color Throwdown took me a while to figure out.

This is not a color combination that I usually create with, so I didn't decide till today what I was going to create.

Once I decided on sunflowers, creating got a lot easier. I knew I had a small stamp set that came with a Tim Holtz kit I picked up at Michael's a while back and the sunflower image was one I really liked, so that is it what I went with. 

Starting with a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock, I used an older The Crafter's Workshop stencil with embossing paste in the center of the cardstock. I embossed a glittery gold embossing powder over the embossing paste, then using an ink blender added TH Fossilized Amber Distress Ink & TH Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink to the center. I blended TH Tumbled Glass Distress Ink over the remainder of the background and then used TH Broken China Distress Ink and the TH Flourish Layering Stencil to add flourishes across the background. I stamped the sunflower and stem images from the Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Kit three times on TH watercolor cardstock and used Fossilized Amber, Squeezed Lemonade, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks to watercolor them. Once dry and cut out, I popped the sunflowers & leaves up with foam tape and slid the rest of the stems under the label and adhered them. The message on the label is from Tim Holtz's Way With Words stamp set. I splattered the entire piece with Perfect Pearls in Gold and then scattered sequins from my stash to finish the piece. 

I love this finished piece. I usually make cards, but this will be added to my creative wall in my scrap room as a reminder to try new things and to use what I already have available on hand.