the CLASSroom

Hello, Monday 10.29.2012

(click on the pic to en-biggan)

Do you love the look of collage, but feel somewhat intimidated at how to pull it off, like me? *wink*

Freestyle collage is a popular trend right now in paper crafts that I am completely intrigued by! I'm particularly fond of the ones that embrace white space (if you know me at all, you know how I adore me some white space, and lots of it!) and feature a small, tightly clustered group of design elements.

The fact that the elements are deliberately and slightly askew adds to the charm and is also rather liberating and fun!

Enjoy the video here or in HD over on YouTube!

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SUPPLIES & MATERIALS:

 

Technique Tuesday Clear Stamps, In Stitches	Prima Press, Typewriter	Tim Holtz, Spills and Splatters	Delicata Ink Pad, Golden Glitz
Brilliance Pad, Pearlescent Chocolate	Distress Ink Pad, Scattered Straw	Adirondack Dye Ink Pad, Peach Bellini	Impression Obsession Dies, Leave
A Cardstock, Essentials by Ellen: White Linen #100 Cardstock, 25 Pack	Basic Grey Clippings, 6x6 Paper Pad	A Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pack	A Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Ream
Sponge Applicator, Sponge Dauber with Airtight Cap	3D-Dots, 1/16" Thick	Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Black & Pink	Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Mini

InLinkz.com

Halloween Reflections by Julia Stainton

With Halloween right around the corner, it seemed like the perfect time to play with some new papers and product. One of these products in particular has me really excited about it.The new Tim Holtz Mirrored is a reallly great reflective material that comes backed with adhesive and is thin, flexible and can be die cut. My mind is whirling at all the possibilities.

And what's Halloween without a spooky mirror? Perfect timing, I say, to try it on a Halloween card design.

The thing I was really excited to try out with Mirrored was so see how reflective it was and how well it die cut. I paired it up with the October Afternoon Witch Hazel line. There are so many great vintage prints in this line. I'm not big on anything too ghoulish so this line is just perfect in my opinion.

It really impressed me how cleanly and easily the Mirrored product was able to be die cut. The above picture shows the die cut mirrors. It comes with a protective film over the mirror so leave that in place until you are ready to use it on your project. Make sure you leave the film on for die cutting. The left die cut still has the film on it and the right die cut has it peeled away. I wish the pictures captured just how shiny and beautiful a mirror finish this product has. I'm thrilled with it!

 

In this next image I'm peeling away the protective film on the left die cut. The right die cut has been flipped over and the adhesive backing is being peeled away. It's so easy to adhere this product.

Next onto creating the card. I've layered three of the beautiful prints together and sanded their edges for a worn distressed look. Worn and distressed and old always goes with Halloween in my opinion.

Lastly I used the coordinating Witch Hazel chipboard stickers to make a quick banner over the mirror. The adhesive chipboard buttons can be stacked for added dimension.

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a spooktacular Halloween!

Supplies:

Tim Holtz Mirrored	Gold Super Star Pins	Witch Hazel Chip 'n Stick Buttons and Banners	Witch Hazel 8x8 paper pad
Harvest Corn Twine Cording	Tim Holtz Sanding Block	Styled Labels Movers and Shapers Die	A3 Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, Ream
Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Black & Pink

InLinkz.com

Holiday Card Workshop Winners

Congratulations to the following lucky ladies!

 

 

 

 

If you could please send your snail mail addresses to us at [email protected] we would really appreciate it!

You can join Jennifer, Kristina and their fabulous guest artists by registering for this new online class here at Holiday Card Workshop! We have also created a special category in our store to help you easily locate the stamps, dies and other tools they will be using to create their projects. You can use what you already have in your stash or find the list of items here - we are working hard with the manufacturers to do our best to keep these items in stock, so please check back or send us an email to notify you if you see that we are out of something. More supplies are on order and arriving each day.

Have a fabulous Thursday and once again congratulations to these three lucky ladies!

Hello, Monday 10.22.2012

This twisting explosion pop-out card is one of those fun projects that's a lot easier to "show" how to create, than describe, LOL!

I think this gizmo would really be fun to use on all sorts of cards--imagine how cute this would be on a birthday!

The mechanism collapses flat inside, so you can easily mail it, but when the recipient opens the card, the focal image twists/pivots and opens outward.

After watching the video, I'll bet the wheels will be turnin' in your head for all kinds of variations for using this clever die! :)

Enjoy the video right here, or in HD on YouTube!

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SUPPLIES & MATERIALS:

 

Cleardesign: You Scare Me	Crafty Cutts Dies, Twisting Explosion Pop Out	Brilliance Pad, Graphite Black	Ranger Embossing Powder, Clear
H33 Cardstock, Graphite	Hero Arts, Layering Paper, Mandarin	A Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pack	Be Creative (Sookwang) Tape, 12mm (1/2")
3D-Dots, 1/16" Thick	Heat It Craft Tool	Glue Glider Pro	Glue Glider Pro Plus Refill, High Tac 58'
Doodle Twine Spool, Beetle Black	Circle Scissor Pro	Making Memories Slice%u2122 Hands Free Mat, 6x6 Blue	Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Mini
Soft Grip Embossing and Stylus Set	October Afternoon, Sidewalks Buttons	Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Black & Pink

InLinkz.com

Giveaway of Online Card Classes newest Holiday Card Workshop

We are so excited to once again be sharing the latest Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop with you! This is an all NEW for 2012 Holiday Card workshop! Join a team of incredible artists for a holiday cardmaking class, featuring different styles of stamps and a variety of supplies and techniques!

We cardmakers love the holidays --- perhaps more than any other time of the year! It's the time when we can really stretch our cardmaking muscles with holiday cards. Whether those cards are intricate, inky masterpieces or clean and simple creations, Christmas and holiday cards are some of the most fun to create!

Join instructors Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, and special guest artists for 20+ videos and well over 30 card ideas! Online Card Classes' Holiday Card Workshop includes tips, tricks, techniques, shopping discounts (including to our store Ellen Hutson), giveaways, videos, instructional PDFs, and more. As Always, you will have lifetime access to the class content.

To register, visit Holiday Card Workshop.

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The classes that Jennifer and Kristina create are always fabulous! AND, I have three seats to give away! So please leave a comment (one per person please) by Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 midnight PDT and I will randomly draw the winners and announce them on Wednesday! Have a fabulous weekend!

Rolled Roses by Sharon Harnist

Good morning and welcome to the CLASSroom on a crisp Fall day! I recently stocked up on some beautiful new colors of WoolFelt Ellen now has in the store and wanted to share with you how thrilled I was to find how wonderfully it cuts with low profile dies! These are 20%-35% wool blends and the colors are fabulous!  Here's a card and tutorial I put together for you, on how easy it is to roll your own roses:

So let's get started on those roses!  First, die cut the colors you want to use.  Here, I used My Favorite Things Large Royal Rose and these felt colors (top to bottom, left to right): Fuchsia, Baby Blue, Shady Grove and Red:

TIP:
Have threaded needle or your adhesive ready, before you start rollling!

1. Use Locking Hemostat Pliers to grasp the outer petal, facing the pliers inward towards the flat cut edge of flower.

2. Holding pliers with dominant hand, slowly roll petal fairly tightly against the index finger of other hand:

The tighter you roll, the smaller your flower will be; looser roll = larger flower.

3. Once you get to the large round "center" of the flower, this will become the base of your flower: 

4. To secure the flower, you can either put glue on the center and then hold the flat edges of the flower against the glue until it dries, use Craft Glue Dots, or since I was working with felt (or any fabric), I chose to stitch it together.

Here's how I did that:

(Photo above): Starting on the bottom of the flower, holding the round center against the flat edge of the petals, run a stitch all the way from one side through all the bottom layers, to the other side.

Turn the flower a 1/4 turn and start stitch again, but go only half way through, going up through the center of the flower. Start the next stitch down through the center of the flower and out the other side (going in the same direction as when you started). That seems to be enough to hold all the layers of the flower securely!

For the scalloped lower portion of the card, I used Tim Holtz's On The Edge-Scallops die.  But My Favorite Things has this similar Wonky Scallop Border, if you'd rather stick with a low profile die.

The darling little house is from Paper Smooches' Promenade stamp set. I stamped it on an Inchie Arts Ivory Twinchie Square and colored it with Copic Sketch markers (BG72, E43, E44, G85, R29, RV09, Y35).  I chose a card base of Memory Box Mango notecard to bring all the colors of this card together. A bit of Lemonade Baker's twine finishes off this card.

Thanks for joining me today . . . I hope you'll find lots of fun uses for these pretty felt roses!

Stamps: Paper Smooches-Promenade; Hero Arts Clear-Everyday Sayings; 
Paper: Memory Box Notecard & Envelopes-Mango; Hero Arts Layering Paper-Latte; 
Dies: My Favorite Things Die-namics-Large Royal Rose; Sizzix Tim Holtz On The Edge-Scallops; 
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; 
Copic Markers: BG72, E43, E44, G85, R29, RV09, Y35
Accessories: Inchie Arts Twinchie Squares-Assorted (Ivory); Simply Swank Locking Hemostat Pliers, Wool Felt-20%: Baby Blue, Fuchsia, Red; Wool Felt-35%: Shady Grove; Sew Easy Baker's Twine-Primary; Craft Glue Dots; 

2012 World Card Making Day Challenge Winners!

A huge THANK YOU to all those who participated in our World Card Making challenges! We hope that you had fun seeing what our talented designers had cooked up for you and a very special thank you to both of our guest designers, Chari Moss and Kittie Caracciolo, for joining in the fun and challenging you with their beautiful creations!

Challenge Participants Grand Prize Winner

Now without further ado... congratulations Sue VanDeVusse!!! You are the winner of the $150 gift certificate to our store!

 

 

Pinterest Inspired Challenge - card created by Sue VanDeVusse

Challenge 1 - Holiday Cards

 Challenge 2 - Pinterest Inspired

Challenge 3 - Sketch

Challenge 4 - Create a Scene

 

 

Challenge 5 - Trend

 

 

Congratulations ladies! If you have not heard from us by the end of the day today please contact us at [email protected] with your snail mail address! We are excited to share these fun craft supplies with you and would like to thank everyone for joining us for this fun event!

Hello, Monday Video: GOT CANDY? by Julie Ebersole

(click on the pics to en-biggan)

I had seriously way too much fun making this Halloween design--this tiny shopping bag is to die for--LITERALLY!!!

I can't help but have a lot of fun when it comes to Halloween--it's the Mister's birthday! Candy, cake AND ice cream???!!! Oh, yeah, baby!!!

This week's video shows you how the whole thing came together and you can watch it right here, or hop over to YouTube to watch it in HD!  Enjoy!

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SUPPLIES & MATERIALS:

A3 Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, Ream	A3 Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, Ream	Echo Park 6x6 Pad, Dots & Stripes, Soda Fountain	Echo Park 6x6 Dots and Stripes - Homefront
Memory Box Dies, Mini Shopping Bag	Memory Box Dies, Dangling Spider	Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Black & Pink	Be Creative (Sookwang) Tape, 3mm (1/8")
Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Mini	Soft Grip Embossing and Stylus Set	Tweezers, Stainless	3D-Dots, 1/16" Thick
Uni-ball Impact Gel Pen, White	Teflon Bone Folder	Sakura Quickie Glue Pen	Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Stickers, Black
Glitter Ritz Microfine, Black	Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker Machine	Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper Tool, Angle & Photo Corner

InLinkz.com

Spread Joy by Cristina Kowalczyk

We are so very thrilled to be welcoming the oh, so talented, clean and simple designer Cristina Kowalczyk to the CLASSroom today! Being the busy mom of two (one being a new-born) I don't know how she manages it all, but she does so beautifully. She has guest designed for us in Julie Ebersole's online class - Fold It, Pop It, Flip It, Zip It and a number of Online Card Classes including the upcoming Holiday Card Workshop. Currently Cristina does design work for Wplus9 Design Studio, Papertrey Ink, Embellish Magazine AND Runway Inspired.

To see more of her beautiful creations visit Cristina's blog, My Paper Secret! I would appreciate if you would head over to Cristina's blog now and help us thank her for sharing her talents with us here in the CLASSroom today. Please leave your comment on her post about being a guest here. As our way of thanking you for taking the time to do so you will have a chance to win some of the fabulous products she used in this post! You know you are in the right place if you see the following picture.

Thank you Cristina for sharing your beautiful project with us here in the CLASSroom today! -Ellen

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Once upon a time, when I was first starting out in cards, I swore that I would never get a die cut machine. I thought it was just one more supply that I didn’t really need. Ha! It didn’t take long before I surrendered and bought a Cuttlebug, and that one little purchase completely changed my approach to cardmaking.
 
These days dies are more popular than ever, and I have a collection that I can barely contain. I’m always looking for new ways to use them, and today I made a card using one of my favorite techniques – insetting.

Insetting your die cuts is a great option for when you want to keep your cards flat for mailing without losing the detail of the die.

You can see what I mean in this card, which features wonderfully intricate snowflakes dies from Impression Obsession.

If I had done a negative die cut, I would have sacrificed all that detail, and if I had simply adhered the positive die cut over the base, it would have added an extra layer.

Instead, I started by cutting the negative spaces out of a layer of cardstock (because of my design, that piece in the corner separated from the rest, but don’t worry, I’ll just tape it down like everything else).

Then I cut the snowflakes again, this time out of colored cardstock.

All that’s left to do now is place the colored snowflakes in the negative openings.

And voila! Everything’s flat and flush, which especially important for mass mailing holiday cards, but still colorful and detailed. I stamped a trendy banner sentiment from Hero Arts/Studio Calico’s Spread Joy set and used a glue pen to add a bit of microfine glitter (‘tis the season for glitter and if you’re in the market for some, seriously, you can’t do much better than this stuff from Glitter Ritz), and that’s it!

Thanks so much for joining me in the CLASSroom today, and a gigantic thanks to Ellen for having me! - Cristina

Studio Calico ClearDesign, Spread Joy from Hero Arts	Impression Obsession Dies, Snowflakes	Hero Arts, Layering Paper, Grenadine	Hero Arts, Layering Paper, Punch
Hero Arts, Layering Paper, Carnation	Hero Arts, Layering Paper, Snow	Memento Ink Pad, Lady Bug	Glitter Ritz Transparent Microfine, Warm Highlights

InLinkz.com

Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop Blog Candy Winner

We are happy to announce the first winner of the blog candy we are giving away from this past weekend of festivities! A huge thanks to everyone for sharing some love with Jean!

Congratulations Lisa G. you are the winning comment on our guest, Jean Manis' post! We will be contacting you momentarily for your snail mail address, but if anything goes amiss in our attempt please contact us at [email protected].

Don't forget you have more chances to win some fun prize packages by leaving comments on the five challenge posts this past Saturday (look for the posts with pictures of goodies attached and leave comments for the designers :-D)and entering your creations in the two InLinkz Challenge Posts. For more information read:

• Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop Challenge - everyone who creates a new project for this challenge only using a Lawn Fawn image will receive a one-time use 15% discount code,
• 2012 World Card Making Day Challenge Blog Candy - one lucky participant will receive a $150 gift certificate to our store :-D The entries have been MARVELOUS - thank you to all who have already joined in the fun!
  
  

Hello Fall by Julie Ebersole

(click on the pics to en-biggan)

Here's a super fun way to add some texture to your paper craft projects! I've been fascinated with Real Wood Paper and the fact that it can be cut by hand, die cut, and even embossed much like regular card stock, making it a very interesting supply to create with!

In a word, I love it. LOVE!!! Combine woodgrain with my favorite color, green, and mmmm mm mmmm! It's a good thing, as Martha says! ;)

The added texture of Sage colored Flower Soft creates the illusion of "moss"--have you seen those fun moss-covered home decor letters and terrariums? I think they're so cool looking, and it's fun to recreate a bit of that style and effect on a card!

You can watch the video here or directly on YouTube in HD.

Perhaps this design will spark other ideas for you to try the next time you sit down to create!

Thanks for joining me today!

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SUPPLIES & MATERIALS:

Studio Calico ClearDesign, Claire from Hero Arts	Memento Ink Pad, Espresso Truffle	COPIC Sketch Marker E09, Burnt Sienna	COPIC Sketch Marker YR14, Caramel
Essentials by Ellen, White Linen Cardstock, 25 pk	A3 Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, 25 pk	Real Wood Cherry, Thin, 8.5x11	Flower Soft, Ultra Fine Sage
American Crafts, DIY Foam Thickers, Shoebox White	A3 Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, Ream	Memory Box Dies, Nutty Acorn	Teflon Bone Folder
Tweezers, Stainless	Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Mini	Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Black & Pink	Glue Glider Pro
Glue Glider Pro Plus Refill, High Tac 58'	3D-Dots, 1/16" Thick

InLinkz.com

WCMD 2012 Challenge 5: Trend Watch Challenge by Julia Stainton

Most of us watch trends in some form or other. We enjoy wearing new clothes in an up-to-date style, we pay attention to trends when decorating our homes, trends in music and media and there are even trends in our speech patterns that change as years go by.The same is true with crafting, we often enjoy following trends as well. Just like in life, the key to trends in crafting is to pay attention to trends and incorporate the ones that work well with your style. Trends are fun for new ideas and inspiration but staying true to what you love makes the most sense.

Today my card incorporates a couple of trends I've been enamoured with lately. I love chevrons and shaped dies and they are both hot crafting trends right now. A challenge is only fun if there is lots of participation so the trend I'm going to challenge to play with is the shaped dies trend. It's so hot that pretty much every crafter owns a die cut machine these days and I can't wait to see all your ideas for using them. They are addicting and I know in seeing your designs, I'm probably not going to be able to resist addding a few more to my stash.

Chevrons are so much fun to incorporate into projects but they can be a little tricky to cut out. That's the beauty of the MFT Stamps Cheveron Stripe Die. It cuts them out quickly and perfectly. I've cut these chevron strips from a pad of 6x6 patterned paper from Studio Calico.

As this die comes with two sizes in one die, you can use the larger chevrons or the smaller or combine them to make a pattern like I've  done here.

I wanted to add some stamping to this design but wanted to keep it subtle and not take away from the die cutting. This stamp set by Basic Grey from Hero Arts gave me the solution. The sentiment is stamped and then punched to create an accent. Did you notice the canvas banner strip? That's also created with a stamp. Using one of the Ranger Archival Ink pads I stamped onto some sticky back canvas and then cut it out. A few easy embellishments finish off the design.

Thanks for joining me for this World Cardmaking Day challenge. I hope you're enjoying lots of creative time this weekend!

Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Black & Pink	Chevron Stripe Die by MFT Stamps	Heyday 6x6 paper pad by Studio Calico	A3 Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, Ream
Clippings Best of the Best Clear stamp set	1.5" circle punch	Natural Studio Sticky Back Canvas 8.5x11	Trinket Pins, Vintage Pearl Butterfly
Vintage Round Pearl Trinket Pins by Maya Road	Venetian Orange Archival Ink by Ranger

InLinkz.com

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TREND CHALLENGE

It's time to get your trend on - this challenge is to use a trendy shape such as the chevron, hexagon, triangle, etc on your project. You can use a die to cut that shape or even freehand it if you don't have a die. Go for it - we are excited to see what you create using a trendy shape!   Once you have completed this challenge please be certain to link directly to that specific project in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post!

Once you have completed this challenge be certain to post a comment, as well as a link to your project, in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post! Please be certain to link directly to each project when uploading your link.

BLOG CANDY

What is your current favorite trend?

Be certain to leave your answer in the comment section on this post to be entered in a random drawing for the following goodies. All comments must be made by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 7th to be eligible.

WCMD 2012 Challenge 4: Scene It Challenge by Kittie Caracciolo

It is an absolute thrill to have Kittie back with us in the CLASSroom once again sharing how it is that she creates her magical scenes AND inspiring you to give it a try!  If you are not familiar with Kittie's work you must visit her blog Kittie Krafts. For additional inspiration I am also going to link you back to the first guest post she shared with all of us here in the CLASSroom

We know you all have the dies she is using so let's get them out and create something fun ;-D

Kittie, thank you so much for continuing to inspire us AND teach us how we can create beautiful scenes using the dies we have in our stash! - Ellen

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I am so excited to be presenting you a “Scene It” challenge in celebration of World Card Making Day. With all the fantastic dies available to us today the scene possibilities are endless.  I have a fun snowy tree and deer project to share that I hope will inspire you to try one of your own.

 
Cut three green and white tree line sections to create the snowy layers.

Cut the trees off the white sections.

Crimp the green tree sections with the straight crimper and the white snow sections with the wavy sections. Crimping adds such fun dimension to the scene. Maybe you should think about taking yours out and dusting it off. Apply adhesive to the back of the white sections and attach to the green tree section. Trim the ends of each section to match the size of the card base. I off set my tree sections to remove the uniform appearance and a more natural tree line.

 
Lightly apply Liquid Applique to the top of the tree, lightly dab and spread with your finger and heat set. You can apply a light second coat, dab and heat to create a fuller snowy tree top. 

Sponge brown ink on the deer to add color and bring them to life.  I cut mine apart so I could attach them a little closer.

 
Attach the deer in between the trees on the front section of trees and attach a piece of mounting tape.

 
Apply tiny dots of Liquid Applique to the blue card base to create falling snow and heat set.

 
I attached the top and second sections directly to the card base with adhesive. I popped up the lower layer with the mounting tape. I secured a few of the taller trees in place with rolled up glue dots.

 

InLinkz.com

DIE SCENE CHALLENGE

Now it’s your turn! My challenge for you today is to grab some of your favorite dies and create a scene project.  I hope you have fun.  Once you have completed this challenge please be certain to link directly to that specific project in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post!

BLOG CANDY

Typically when we have guest designers I have you head to their blogs to share your appreciation with them there, but to avoid confusion and remain consistent with the other posts today we would very much appreciate if you would leave a special comment below for Kittie! Your comment on this post will be entered in a random drawing for the following goodies. All comments must be made by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 7th to be eligible.

WCMD 2012 Challenge 3: Sketch Challenge by Sharon Harnist

Hello and welcome to the CLASSroom for World Card Making Day Challenge 3 ... I'm so glad you joined me today for a sketch challenge!  I LOVE using sketches, they make the process of creating a card SO much easier, I think . . . half of the hard work is already done for you!  All you have to do is choose some paper or cardstock, a stamp or embellishment and you're all set to go!

There's a Fall chill in the air so for my card today, I chose this beautiful Big Pumpkin image from Lockhart Stamp Company:

It was stamped on Copic X-Press It Blending Card, die cut with MFT Die-namics Stax Traditional Tags and then colored with the Copic markers (Y21, YR01, YR12, YR16, YG03, YG63, E50, E21, E23, B0000).  Here are a few step-out photos for you (click on any photo for a larger view):

Start with Y21 in the centers of the pumpkin sections, where the pumpkin is the roundest (standing out closest to you) and would reflect more sunlight:

Next, base coat the entire pumpkin with lightest YR01 (I did try to avoid coloring over the Y21 entirely, so that the very centers would still retain the yellow color, but blended the edges of the Y21 where it met the YR01):

Then add deeper shading with YR12 in the crevices of the pumpkin:

Go back and blend everything with lightest YR01 and then add darkest YR16 to the far left and right sides of the pumpkin that would be furtherest from you, and near the bottom of the pumpkin:

Finally, add a few shadows with E23 along the bottom of the pumpkin.  Next, color the pumpkin stem with E21, E23 and vines with YG63.  Color the flowers and their centers with Lemon and Orannge Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pens.  Finally, airbrush the sky background with B0000 and the ground with E21.

I used a date stamper and word **celebrate** to stamp on the end of my tag, along with the date of the recepient's birthday. To make the perforation marks on the end of the tag, I used Tim Holtz's Design Ruler and a paper piercer.

Here's your sketch to follow:

I hope you have fun with it!  For my flags, I used My Favorite Things' Fishtail Flag Die-namics Stax dies, but you could also hand cut your paper or use pieces of ribbon.  Enjoy!

So what's my answer to the question below that YOU need to answer?  I think you can probably guess . . . my favorite papercrafting tools are Copic markers!!  

~ Sharon

Lockhart Stamp Company Big Pumpkin	AC Dear Lizzy Roller Date Stamp	Blending Card by X-Press It, 25 Pack	Echo Park 6x6 Pad, For The Record 2-Tailored
Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black	Memento Ink Pad, Rich Cocoa	Copic Sketch Markers	Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pens
My Favorite Things Die-namics Stax, Fishtail Flags	My Favorite Things Die-namics Stax, Traditional Tags	Copic Airbrush jSystem Starter Kit 1N	High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2"

InLinkz.com

Other: Paper piercer, chocolate rick-rack trim; linen thread

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SKETCH CHALLENGE

Now it’s your turn! Create a card using the sketch above as inspiration! Once you have completed this challenge please be certain to link directly to that specific project in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post!

BLOG CANDY

What is the tool you use most when papercrafting?

Be certain to leave your answer in the comment section on this post to be entered in a random drawing for the following goodies. All comments must be made by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 7th to be eligible.

WCMD 2012 Challenge 2: Pinterest Inspired Challenge by Chari Moss

I love surprises! Today we are bringing you the talents of another fabulous guest designer who shares their creativity with us with a Pinterest challenge! It was at Winter CHA that I had the pleasure of working with Chari as I placed our first order with Lawn Fawn - it was so much fun to be in their booth and to meet this great team! Welcome Chari - we are so thrilled to have you joining us and sharing this fantastic challenge with our crafting friends!!

Chari does beautiful work as a designer for Lawn Fawn, Neat & Tangled and Young Crafters Unite! What is even more amazing are the buttons she sells in her Etsy store! For more inspiration and to see her fabulous projects please visit Chari's blog Mossy Made!

Thank you so much for joining us today in the CLASSroom Chari - we love your project and challenge! -Ellen

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Happy World Card Making Day! I hope you are inspired and join in on all the creativity happening here in the CLASSroom.  Today I have a Pinterest inspired challenge to share with you.  After scouring Pinterest and finding way too many beautiful things I finally settled on this image as my inspiration for today’s card.

(Pinterest Inspired)

This image has a variety of elements to pull inspiration from, which by the way was part of my reason for choosing it. I wanted an image with multiple elements to appeal to a variety of creative styles. For me it was the colors, patterns & textures of the image that inspired me.

I pulled out some wood pattern paper & natural white card stock to start with and did some simple stamping with Hero Arts shadow inks & flower stamps.  For some added interested I wanted to cut out some of the large flower petals to allow the wood grain to peek through.  Using a craft knife I carefully cut the petals out of the natural white card stock and then die cut a circle out of the purple mat piece that fits behind it. 

For some shine I added star dust stickles accents on the edged of the flower petals. Sometimes larger amounts of stickles can cause cardstock to warp so I applied the stickles and let them dry completely before adhering the panel to my card.

The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn’s Flutter By set. I curved the stamp to fit around the flower and stamped it in a darker espresso truffle ink so it would stand out. To dot the “i” I used the memento marker in the same color.

Finally I adhered the panel to the card base with foam adhesive and sprinkled around some Hero Arts dots embellishments, adhering them down with glossy accents.

InLinkz.com

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PINTEREST CHALLENGE

Now it’s your turn! Create a card using the above Pinterest image as your inspiration! Once you have completed this challenge please be certain to link directly to that specific project in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post!

BLOG CANDY

Typically when we have guest designers I have you head to their blogs to share your appreciation with them there, but to avoid confusion and remain consistent with the other posts today we would very much appreciate if you would leave a special comment below for Chari! Be certain to leave your comment on this post to be entered in a random drawing for the following goodies. All comments must be made by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 7th to be eligible.

WCMD 2012 Challenge 1: Holiday Greetings with Julie Ebersole

(click on the pic to en-biggan)

Yay for World Card Making Day!

My challenge for you today is to create a Holiday Greeting!

The instant I saw it, I fell madly in love with this awesome set by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday, called "Jingle All The Way"!  My inspiration design here may seem complex, given the stamp set I used, but it's actually a lot easier than you think. *wink*

I mounted all the sentiments I wanted to use onto one single acrylic block--this initially took a little time, to make sure they were all straight; an acrylic block with grid lines really helps! This way, I could ink and stamp all at once, making mass production of this design a breeze!

It was then very easy to "fill the gaps" with the darling accent images in the set like the bell, holly and stars, in different colors.

A little bit of twine and some Rock Candy Stickles was all that was needed to finish it off!

Can't wait to see what Holiday Greetings you create and thanks for joining me in this challenge for World Card Making Day!

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SUPPLIES & MATERIALS:

Technique Tuesday Clear Stamps, Jingle All the Way by Ali Edwards	Shadow Ink, Soft Granite	Memento Ink Pad, Love Letter
Memento Ink Pad, Dandelion	Memento Ink Pad, Pear Tart	Shadow Ink, Soft Pool
A Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Ream	A Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pack	H4 Cardstock, Dove Gray
Doodle Twine Spool, Gray	Distressed Stickles, Rock Candy	Clear Acrylic Block 3" x 4" Rectangular with Grid
3D-Dots, 1/16" Thick

InLinkz.com

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HOLIDAY CARD CHALLENGE

We hope that this challenge helps give you a jump start on your holiday cards! Create a card to use this upcoming holiday season! Once you have completed this challenge please be certain to link directly to that specific project in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post!

BLOG CANDY

What is your favorite time of year to pull out your card making supplies and create?

Be certain to leave your answer in the comment section on this post to be entered in a random drawing for the following goodies. All comments must be made by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 7th to be eligible.

2012 World Card Making Day Challenge Blog Candy

It is with great excitement that we share our projects and challenges throughout
the day on Saturday, October 6th, World Card Making Day.
We would LOVE to have you play along with us!

We will be keeping this post as a reminder here at the top of the CLASSroom, so be certain to scroll down for the fun challenges we have in store for you!

Today is the second day of our World Card Making Day sale - remember to shop early for best selection!

Throughout the day today, Saturday, October 6th, starting at 8:00am PDT we will be sharing a new challenge every hour until we have posted all FIVE challenges! Be certain to return throughout the day to see what is new, leave a comment for each designer and enter to win some fun blog candy! Your comment on each challenge post will automatically enter you in a random drawing for the goodies that we are giving away in that post.

Please scroll down through the posts that include a challenge number next to them - example WCMD 2012 Challenge 1: Holiday Greetings with Julie Ebersole, etc. There will be a total of five different challenges posted today for you to participate in. (Don't forget about our special Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop Challenge as well - but it is not included in this challenge!)

To participate in this drawing, our grand "Challenge Blog Candy" giveaway, all you need to do is create a project for one of the five WCMD Challenges, snap a picture, load it to a gallery or your blog and link us up! We are SO excited to see what you create! Our grand prize for this challenge will be a $150 store credit (the winner will be able to use it to shop for whatever they fancy!) --- we hope this motivates you to get creating and join in the fun :-D

Following are instructions sharing how you can participate in our Grand Prize WCMD Challenge Blog Candy:

1. Create a project for one WCMD challenge, several WCMD challenges, or participate in all of them! It is completely up to you how many of our challenges you would like to create for. You are welcome to create a total of five different projects, one for each challenge and enter each one as a new entry. The more challenges you enter the better your chance of winning this prize package! It is imperative that you indicate in your blog post which challenge your card is being entered for to be included or it will be disqualified.
2. Please enter only one project for each challenge. Each project can only be used for one challenge category. For example please do not combine the holiday challenge with the sketch challenge and then enter that same project twice.
3. Share the projects that you create on your blog, or in a forum gallery such as --- the Gallery, Splitcoaststampers or the World Card Making Day gallery.
4. Once you have your project uploaded come back and share a direct link to your project at the end of this post using the InLinkz tool provided.
5. Deadline for entering in our "WCMD Challenge Blog Candy" is Friday, October 12th at 11:59pm Pacific Daylight Time. We are giving you almost a full week to create so that you can take advantage of as many challenges as possible!
6. We will use a random number generator to select our winner on Monday, October 15th, 2012.

Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop Sponsorship and Blog Candy

With World Card Making Day tomorrow we wanted to start off with some FUN today! Be certain to note that we have TWO posts for you today! Please join me in welcoming our guest designer Jean Manis in the following post, as well carefully read through this post being we have a special discount for EVERYONE who participates in this challenge AND a discount code for shopping today and tomorrow! 

Over the next two days we will be offering you a MULTITUDE of challenges to participate in and prizes to win!!! So be certain to return again tomorrow! For today and tomorrow we have a special shopping discount for you - if you place an order with us at www.ellenhutson.com either today or tomorrow please use the code WCMD2012 to receive 15% off everything in-stock on your order except Copic products!

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It is such a privilege to be sponsoring the Lawnscaping Challenges fall blog hop!!! When Laurel sent me the badge for the hop I just had to create using it AND I wanted for each of you to have the opportunity to participate as well! After you have completed hopping we hope you feel incredibly inspired and will get busy creating because we have a FABULOUS surprise for those who take this on. We will be offering a one-time discount code to all participants who create a project following the directions below!

To play along in this challenge and be qualified for the discount code you must do the following:

• create a new project for only this challenge based on the photo inspiration above - then link this challenge AND inspiration photo to your post and add the direct link to your post or online gallery to the InLinkz below,
• you must use at least one Lawn Fawn image or product (paper or hemp) in your creation,
• if you do not have a blog you can upload your image to the Gallery, the Lawnscaping Challenges Flickr group or Splitcoaststampers,
• you have one week to complete your project - deadline is Friday, October 12th! Watch the little timer on the InLinkz at the bottom of this post for exact time left.

On Monday, October 15 we will use the email address you provide when entering your project using the InLinkz information included below to send out a special email to all those who have participated with a one-time use discount code of 15%. You will be able to use this code on any order you place with us at anytime until the end of this year - December 31, 2012. We hope this gets you busy creating and joining in the fun ;-D

Be certain to head over to the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog for additional fun and more blog candy!!!

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When I first saw the blog hop badge I couldn't help but have flowers on my brain - I just love these big, beautiful sunflower blossoms! I have been wanting to try a fabulous idea I had pinned to my Pinterest board that brought me back to elementary school days when we wrapped tin cans with string and yarn. Everything just seemed to come together when it dawned on me that Lawn Fawn has the most fabulous hemp!

Mason jars are a hot trend right now! So what better and more fun way to use your crafty supplies than to create an up-to-date centerpiece for the upcoming Thanksgiving festivities! I must admit I didn't part with one of my pretty Mason jars, but rather used a pickle jar that had just been washed to recycle. Begin by applying two rows of 2 1/2" Be-Creative (Sookwang) tape to your jar.

I worked from the bottom up, only removing the protective covering from the lower portion of the tape. This made it easy to hold on to the jar and wrap the hemp as shown in the photo above.

Hide the "tails" of the hemp as shown above. I like to work using odd numbers - the look is always more balanced that way. So I started with 5 rows of the mustard, 3 rows of the teal, etc.

When you complete your last row simply tuck the tail end beneath the previous row. I used my craft knife to help me gently lift the previous row and tuck the end in place. Then use the knife to scrape away any excessive adhesive and an adhesive eraser to eliminate any tape remains.

To create the tag I embossed the die cut Desert Storm tag and added this fabulous cornucopia from Lawn Fawn's Harvest set. Coloring on the Desert Storm paper using Prismacolor pencils gives a warm look to the completed image!

I couldn't resist creating a second tag using the same stamp set - this tag being a little more modern in appearance.

Mount all three leaf stamps on an acrylic block and stamp multiple times using Distress Embossing ink. Then apply Adirondack's Butterscotch embossing powder and heat set it. This embossing powder is a perfect coordinate to the Lawn Fawn hemp! To create the coordinating ribbon colored a segment of 1/4" silk ribbon with coordinating Copic markers.

Can you imagine little jelly jars done in this manner and situated at each place setting?!! You could write individual names on the tags and use them as place holders or line them up down the center of the table and use as a centerpiece. I hope that this inspires you to go and pull out your Lawn Fawn stamps and join in this fun challenge!

InLinkz.com

Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop with Jean Manis

Who better to join in sharing some fabulous inspiration for our portion of the Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop challenge than the talented artist who introduced me to these fun challenges!! Today I am so very excited to share the beautiful work of Jean Manis with you! It was about a year and a half ago when I first met Jean at a school related function, little did I know at that time what an avid paper crafter she was. Over the past short months I have had the pleasure of getting to know Jean better as she stops in here at our office/warehouse. It was during one of those visits that she shared how much she enjoyed the Lawnscaping challenges.

Jean is on both the Simple Scrapper and the Neat and Tangled Design Teams and she shares more of her gorgeous work on her blog Right as Rain. I would like to invite you to head over to Jean's blog to be inspired and leave some comments for her!

Being Jean does not have ready access to her in-box this weekend please join me in welcoming Jean here in the CLASSroom by leaving a comment for her here on this post! You will have until midnight October 7, 2012 Pacific Daylight Time to share your thoughts and be included in our random drawing for some of the fun products Jean used to create this fabulous fall forest for the Lawnscaping Fall Blog Hop Challenge!

 Head to the bottom of this post to find the comments section!

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Fall in the Pacific Northwest is glorious as the deciduous trees show their color against an evergreen backdrop. I wanted to capture the Pacific Northwest fall, specifically the textures and colors, in a card using a combination of Lawn Fawn stamp sets, a couple of which are intended for the winter and holidays. As soon as I saw the “Let It Snow” set, I knew it was a must-have given its combination of solid and open evergreen trees. Several of the patterned papers from the Basic Grey “Aspen Frost” pad and Echo Park’s “Everyday Eclectic” offer texture with their prints. We are often wearing scarves here, (not just in the winter!), so I donned the “Winter Owl” with a fall-colored scarf, paper-pieced with a print from “Aspen Frost.”

With each card I make I set out to make an improvement in some way – try a new design, try a new technique or polish my stamping or card-making skills. To that end, I have two tips to share.

To “season” the solid trees in the Lawn Fawn “Let It Snow” set, I used a sanding block from Lucky Squirrel.

Stamped with black Ranger Archival ink, you can see that my first tree (on the far right) has some splotches. I sanded the stamp, on the stamping block, lightly and then stamped again (middle image). I wanted to err on the side of under-sanding rather than over sanding. Since I still had a little bit of splotch, I sanded a bit more and finally achieved a clean solid image (on the far left).

I clear-embossed the owl stamped with Versafine black ink. I find that having the embossed edge makes my paper-piecing easier. There’s something about that raised barrier. I stamped and embossed the owl several times, using the owl stamped on Memory Box Vanilla Bean cardstock as the base. Another tip I wanted to share, which I learned from Chari Moss http://www.mossymade.com/, is to use a marker on the edges of cut stamped pieces. This tip was especially useful when I cut out the owl’s eyes, since I didn’t want there to be any white paper outside of the stamped image. Holding the cut paper with tweezers, due to its size, I went around the edge with a Memento marker. It’s best to dedicate a marker to this task as the fibers of the marker will eventually get paper cuts that could lead to bleeding when you use the marker to color.

I stamped the solid trees from the “Let It Snow” set for the forest foreground using “Peeled Paint” and “Forest Moss” Distress inks. These inks paired nicely together color-wise and provide a watercolor-like effect when stamped with the solid tree. I wanted the forest to have a natural feel to it. Three fussy-cut trees sit in the foreground of my scene. I stamped the background forest with the open trees in the set using the same two ink colors. I wanted there to be some overlap to create a cluster. The tallest cut tree was adhered directly to the background; I used 1/16” 3-D dots for the other two solid trees. I used 1/8” 3-D dots to adhere the owl and stapled the banner for a metallic accent.

Going back to my card-making goals, I periodically like to try a different approach. In this case, the “Winter Owl” stamp was one that I wanted to try Copic coloring. This owl uses brown Versafine ink, rather than black, and is clear embossed. I’m a novice when it comes to using my Copics, so my owl doesn’t include any shading. The Copic-colored approach was definitely less time-consuming than the paper-pieced one.  Using the colorless blender, I “added” polka dots to the scarf.

InLinkz.com