Thursday, September 27, 2012

Crop Chocolate Design Team Blog Hop for OWH

Welcome, welcome!  I am so glad to have you visiting my blog!  I have lots to share, so I'll get right to it.  You should have arrived here from Brenna's blog, if you are hopping with cropchocolate.com.  If you are here with Friends With Flair, please enjoy the Unity stamps I used on many of the cards I'm featuring today.  This hop is to motivate you to make cards for an organization I have supported for several years now, and it's a great one.  If you don't know much about Operation Write Home, explore their website here: http://operationwritehome.org/.  If you are looking for specific guidelines on what they need for cards, when they need them by, etc, try this link: http://operationwritehome.org/guidelines/

You may have noticed, we, the CC design team, are each issuing you a challenge.  From now until October 8, we want you to make cards for OWH, and we're here to motivate you.  My challenge is quite simple.  I took a very basic sketch (or recipe) that looks like this:

 It's a standard A2 card base (8 1/2 x 5 1/2, folded in 1/2), then 3 pieces of paper.  One is 5 1/2 x 2, another is 3/4 x 4 1/4 and the square is 2 1/2 x 2 1/2.  Easy.  And very adaptable, as you will see.  This is your basic recipe.  From here, the challenge to you is to use those components, but "tweak" them.  Just like any good cook, or in this case, cardmaker, take the recipe and make it your own.

You can rotate it 180 degrees.  Or 90 degrees and have the fold on the side.
I'll show you some cards I made using this sketch, or recipe.







As you can see, the components are there, but I sometimes tweaked them.  I might have substituted ribbon for the 3/4 inch strip of paper, or left out the 2 inch strip.  All the papers for the above cards are Echo Park Everyday Eclectic 6x6 papers, and the stamps are all Unity.  I also did this same thing with some Christmas cards.  Here's what they look like:






Get the idea?  Of course you do!  Easy peasy.  The papers I used on these cards are all from Cropchocolate grab bags.  There were a variety of stamps used.  Some were Close To My Heart, some Unity.  Embellishments are CTMH and MME.

Here's what I want you to do, and there's blog candy involved.  Become a follower of my blog if you're not already and make a comment about the cards you see today and you'll be eligible to win.  Enter a card using the recipe above, and you'll be eligible to win another blog candy.  For each card linked with the linky below, you'll be eligible for that candy.  Make sense?  Make a comment, maybe win.  Enter lots of cards, better your chance of winning.  Two people will win.

And, for some more inspiration, here's some Christmas cards I made for a swap on cropchocolate.  (These are not using the recipe above)





Papers are MME and CC grab bags.  The last two are made with Washi tape.  Did you participate in the washi tape swap?  I thought you might like some inspiration on how to use it when it arrives.  Ticket stamps and penguin are Unity.  The snowman stamp is Hot Off The Press.  Now, off for more inspiration. Hop on, my friends to Brit's blog.

Link your card's using the recipe above here.

42 comments:

  1. great basic tutorial, well explained and simple to follow. Great job! and such a worthy organization!

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  2. Love all your cards!They are all great and the papers are so pretty!

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  3. GREAT job on your cards, Julie! They are all so beautiful!!! (I really now feel like a slacker with my 2 little cards. lol) Again, GREAT job!!!

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  4. Holy smackeroos, Julie - those are some pretty amazing-looking cards! LOVE this idea of the basic recipe of size components - very cool!

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  5. I'm amazed by how many cards you made out of a single sketch. Great job!

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  6. your have lot great cards and sketches.

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  7. Great cards! Love the tinsel n a tangle card. Ha! :)

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  8. These are fantastic! What a simple sketch, this is going to be fun to play with!

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  9. Beautiful cards Julie! I'm already a follower!

    ANd that is a great way to show how versatile a sketch can be!

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  10. this is was great challenge! using this cut & arrange technique, I whipped out TEN cards for ya :-)

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  11. nice showcasing of the unity stamps
    ava g

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  12. wow Julie! You made lots of cards and ALL of them are beautiful !! great job.

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  13. love this one.....hoping to get some crafty time soon! :o)

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  14. Cool. You have been using time well.

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  15. Great cards Julie and I love the challenge. I will be linking up some cards soon!!

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  16. Great card pattern and how different you can make them with just a few things.

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  17. Fun challenge, your cards look great! And thanks for showing the couple at the end with the washi tape.. makes me eager to get my swaps!

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  18. Nice challenge. I love your cards, you did a great job on them!!!

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    1. I am a follower already. Great cards-I love the papers that you used. They are so bright and cheerful :)

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  19. Fantastic cards!!! I am all linked up.

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  20. Wow-that's a lot of cards! They are all so bright and cheerful :) I hope to get some cards done and posted this weekend.

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  21. I just posted my card for the challenge. Thanks.

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  22. I only had time to make one for this challenge! great sketch and i'll be holding on to it for more cards!!

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  23. Beautiful selection of cards to use for inspiration! Love the clouds the best! I think I'm all linked up!

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  24. Like I posted on previous blogs. I love sketches or guide lines like you had. Makes it easier to complete. Loved your challenge. I am already a follower.

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  25. Hi Julie. I put the wrong picture on for #9, so please disregard. My real entry is #11.

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  26. great cards, I have completed your challenge and am linked up

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  27. Wow...so many great cards! (and a very nice sketch to follow for our challenge) Hope I linked up correctly - did it from my CC profile page

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  28. I really enjoyed this challenge - what a nifty idea! I'm all linked up!

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  29. First things first: I love your cards! and the sketch is easy, too! I didn't end up getting my cards done in time, but I still hope to!
    Thanks for the challenge!

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