Welcome to Day 2 of the First {Unofficial} CC Blog Hop

Welcome to the second day of the First {unofficial} Crop Chocolate Blog Hop.

Crop Chocolate is a one-deal-at-a-time website that sells AWESOME(!!!) scrapbooking/paper crafting supplies at reduced rates.  The selection is amazing, and the people there are great.  It's like a little family.

I was lucky enough to find them over a year ago, and think I have supported at least one of their employees by myself.  You should check them out also if you haven't already.  You can use the link to the right.

The project I made for this blog hop is a graduation card for my DD's daycare teacher to give to her daughter, who graduate from high school last week.

Here is a picture of it:

Her favorite colors are orange and purple, and orange is a color I don't use often, so I thought I would make it the main color and work the other around it.  I also added a little green to lighten it up a little.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing border folder, paper from Making Memories and Stampin' Up, chipboard from Stampin' Up (I believe), and a graduation stamp set (I can't remember from whom).  The inks are all Stampin' Up - elegant eggplant and dusty durango.

If you like this or want to make comments about this project (or my blog in general), feel free.  If you comment, you can win some blog candy (picture is shown on Scrappy Canuck's blog).

If you happened across here, but haven't seen the blogs previous to mine, you can start at the beginning - at rosaliejb's blog - http://www.rosaliejb.blogspot.com/

To continue with the blog hop, please visit Alissa at http://willrunforstamps.blogspot.com/

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.  HAPPY 4TH everyone!!!!

General Thank You cards

Here are some general thank you cards I've made in the last year.  My favorite is the middle one (and I literally threw that one together in about 20 minutes - figures doesn't it).

Sorry this one is rotated, that's the way it uploaded and I couldn't get it to change.

This one is my favorite - flowers are similar to the ones for the wedding cards and are from Stampin' Up.

These are a similar design to the congrats cards I made.  I like the simple layout so much I had to scraplift myself.  

Father's Day cards

Here are some Father's Day cards I made.  The paper is from Making Memories Cosmopolitan collection.  And the stamp is Basic Grey Alpha stamp collection.  I have a hard time making masculine cards, but I think this one does the trick - not to fancy, very simple.  I hope you agree.

Wedding/Anniversary Cards

Given that June is the start of the "typical" wedding season, I decided to make some wedding/anniversary cards to sell also.  At first I was struggling with paper I had in my stash to find something appropriate, so I went to JoAnn's for something else and decided it couldn't hurt to look around at paper.  Maybe I would be inspired.  Well, I was.  I found this kind of vintage DCWV stack of paper that I thought would be perfect for the cards.  Then I used some flowers from Stampin' Up, and my Slice to make the "love".  And I punched the edge with a floral punch.

Congratulations cards

Here are some congratulations and graduation cards I made to sell.  I tried to use the colors of the most local high schools to me.  But I also tried to anticipate that some people might want to give a more general congratulations card.  Most of the paper and cardstock is from Stampin' Up.

Baby cards

This is a baby shower card I threw together for someone at work.  She knew they were having a boy.

I decided to combine two of my favorite crafts - quilting and cards.  I've actually been meaning to do this for awhile, but couldn't figure out what blocks to use or which project to use them on. So I started with baby cards.  I also used my Slice to cut out most of the popped-up images and words.  I had a lot of fun doing these and will be expanding the selection into other occasions!!

Here are some baby boy ones:  Red Cross II, Homeward Bound, Around the Block.

Here are some baby girl ones: Around the Block, Pinwheel, A Plain Block.

Here are a couple gender neutral ones:  A Plain Block, The Double V, Nine Patch.

Bravissimo! Challenge

Through Crop Chocolate, Making Memories asked for those who visit the CC site and order from them to make projects using their newest line - Bravissimo.  This line is one designed to applaud and honor the achievements of kids and adults alike.  There are rosettes you can put on ribbons, and sayings you can add, as well as embellishments like pearls and beads.  So I made a 12x12 layout that commemorates a birthday.  My intention is to put it in a shadow box and hang it on the wall.  I used photo corners so that I can change the picture every year.

First ATC's - spring theme

So here are pictures of my first ever ATC's (artist trading cards).  The theme was spring.  Compared to some I've seen, they are pretty simple.  All paper is DCWV, but the clips are from MM Chloe's Closet collection.

And this is my personal favorite of the bunch:

Mother's Day cards

Here are the Mother's Day cards I made this year for my mom and my sister.  They look pretty simple, but I think they are really cool.

This is a close-up of the punch detail.

For this card, I decided to fold it a little differently to see how it would look.  I also added an embossed image on the inside flap.

Thank you Cards for 2010 Breast Cancer Walk

So last year I decided to make the majority of my thank you cards to the donors for my breast cancer walk.  Here is a picture of them.  I also took close up pictures of each design, but that would be too many to upload here.  So here is just the overall collection of them.  All of them have some sort of pink in them (and some have purple just to mix things up a little).

These were a lot of fun to make and I am planning on making more for this year's donors.  So if you want to be the recipient of one, I would suggest you donate (see link to the right).

March Crop Chocolate project - Vacation challenge

At first this was a tough one for me because we don't take that many actual vacations yet.  We're waiting for the kids to get a little older so they can appreciate the places we go.  However, every year we go to Knoebel's Grove and Amusement Park for our family reunion.  So I decided to do 2-page 12x12 layouts for both kids.  While I'm doing one, I may as well do the other.  Saves times later in trying to remember what I did.

I like the way they both turned out, and might have to use this layout again and again for other events.  Great ways to fit in lots of pictures (which I have a lot of as I can't seem to pick and choose).

Here is the one I did for Sam:

It uses cardstock from Stampin' Up, Echo Park's Sweet Summertime, banner from Sassafras.  I had a lot of fun trying to fit in so many pictures.

And here is the one I did for Mary:

It uses cardstock from Stampin' Up, Echo Park's Life is Good, banner from Sassafras.  I had a lot of fun trying to fit in so many pictures.

Other Valentine's Day Cards

Here are some other Valentine's Day cards I made for family members - my parents, my sister, and the hubby,  They used the Slice for all of them, and as you can see, used the same color palette for all of them.  I had a lot of fun making these.

February Crop Chocolate project - Valentine's Day card

For the February Chocolatiers Challenge, the theme was love.  So I did the sort of obvious and made a Valentine's Day card.  I used my new Slice for the first time on this one - cut out the hearts and the words.  I still need practice with the adhesive because my word stuck a little too well.  I will just have to make more things so that I can get the hang of it.  I also used my tag maker for the middle heart.  That was pretty easy.

BIrthday Cards

Here are some other birthday cards I've made over the last year.  The first two are use all Stampin' Up products.  I think it was actually a kit I got from them that included the stamps, ribbon, and cardstock.  Unfortunately, the second one didn't upload correctly and is rotated.

Here is a birthday card I made for a friend.  I used my newest large purchase - MM Slice.  I love this machine!!!  The papers are from DCWV.