colorstory

Colorstory Challenge has evolved and become much more than just the idea it started out to be.  For the last 9 months we have challenged each other to create with COLOR!  It has become a challenge blog with over 100 visitors per day.  And many more have signed up for our newsletter.   I am so grateful to those of you who have entered our challenges and help shape & grow this site.  And our GENEROUS kit sponsors as well.

Over the next couple of months I will be evaluating this concept & working on this site and the direction that it may take.   I apologize to those of you who were anxiously awaiting the inspiration our next challenge.  Personally the last couple of weeks have been a time of emotion and reflection.  Evaluating what's important and cherishing moments.   During the upcoming holidays & times of celebration with your families & friends I hope that you will do the same.

In the meantime, I would like to invite you to visit my personal blog here. 

 

 

mix & match

I've been "playing" with this!  So fun!   Just a bit behind in posting due to the events of this week. But while you all waiting with anticipation for our next challenge...I invite you to GO PLAY.  See how many color combinations you can make.  Ask yourself which one is your favorite..and ask yourself "why"?  See what you can learn through this exercise.  And yes...it's a "hint" for CS10. 

Congratulations: Abbie T.

The mix of black & white photos and color pallet along with your take on the sketch is eyecatching! Your entry LO was chosen by our team as our CS9 Winner and lucky you will be receiving the Zainy Zinnia Nov. kit.  Use the e-mail like to provide us your information so we can get this yummy kit on it's way to you.    

 

CS9 Gallery

Honestly I am absolutely in LOVE with each and every LO submitted to the challenge this time.  So I'm going to enlist the help of Sonda & Stacy to help me pick the winning LO of CS9 to receive the fabulous Zainy Zinnia kit.

I will be back before the 1st of the month to post the winner HERE :o) 

While your waiting...I wanted to share a LO or two from the Zainy Zinnia October gallery.  The complete ZZ gallery can be found here

Sorry for the delay

This weekend I found out about a family medical emergency and it has consumed most of my free time to post the gallery.  Please be patient with me for just a bit...I promise to post as soon as I can.

CS9

If you know me then you know that it's really no secret that my FAVORITE season of the year is FALL. I grew up in an area where we had "real" seasons.   The crisp cool snap in the air always created the most spectacular colors of leaves.  Fall is a chance to make your home "cozy" for the cool nights ahead. The warm orange glow of the fireplace or candles.  The harvest colors of all the seasonal fruits & veggies.  I'm sure you all have those colors clearly pictured in your mind.  Each fall I bring out my favorite fall items to decorate my home.  Although I LOVE those things, I sometimes struggle on how to make the display look "new & fresh" each year.  

When I came across this photo I immediately went "WOW".  It's such an unexpected color twist and exactly what I was looking for to update my fall collection.  

   

I love everything about this photo.  The teal weathered background paired with the "pops" of orange berries. The rustic twigs and especially the text directly over the photo.   Look at the color pallet & storyboard that was inspired by this photo... 

CS9 Storyboard

Studio Notes (coming soon)

Kim H.

Some things that I pulled from the inspiration photo for this page were the background color & texture. I also wanted to add a bit of elegance & glow to my page so I chose organza ribbon & an embossed stamp pattern that has a rustic patina to it.  Even added a little bit of "orange bling"; inspired from the berries on the wreath.

I just had to try putting my Title & Text directly onto the photo.  I would normally consider this an "easy" task, but having just switched from a PC to a MAC I got scared!!  You know what...it is easy and you SHOULD try it.  Not having any other software on my computer yet other than what it came with (ie: no photoshop)  I was still able to do this.  Here's how: Open any word processing program you may have.  Insert your photo onto your page.  Resize your photo to the approximate photo size you want for your page.  Find your text box feature and add a text box to your page.  Reposition it over the area you want text on your photo.  Type your text.  Select your fonts, in my photo I chose to feature one large word as my title in a decorative font and smaller simpler font for my text.  Then print your page.  Be sure to adjust your printer settings for photo paper & quality before you print.  And yes...It's that easy!

 

Anita - Guest Design Winner CS8

Anita's style is a fresh take on our challenge and she features our color pallet with a twist. Just fabulous!  

Ready to try our colorstory challenge?   As if our inspiration isn't already enough...this month we'll offer up some additional incentive!  

I'm so pleased to feature Zany Zinnia as our Colorstory Challenge sponsor this month!  Stacy's kit club is celebrating their 2nd year anniversary this month and she has picked fabulous papers & embellishments that just happen to work perfectly with our CS9 challenge.   Congratulations!

Natural Beauty is a gorgeous fall collection. Included is a mix of double-sided papers from Webster's Pages, along with embellishments from My Mind's Eye, Sassafras Lass, and Making Memories. There's also the cutest puff trim from Bazzill.  You can find this collection from ZZ here.

Zany Zinnia is a scrapbook kit club with no commitments! You can choose your favorite kits as you see them and just buy what you like! And they are priced just right!  Perfect for scrappers who want the latest items but need to stay on budget. With this plan, we can bring you a variety of styles, from bright to vintage! Each month there's something different!   Stay tuned for some featured pages from the ZZ new design team around the middle of the month.  

Lets celebrate together this month with ZZ & CS9.  Link your page in our comments section by October 25th and you could be the lucky winner of this featured kit from our generous sponsor, Zany Zinnia!  

CS8 Gallery

I'm so proud of all of you that have been dedicated to our challenges.  I think that this month all of you have really embraced the challenge and "stepped" it up!!  If I've missed anyone's LO submission, please forgive me.  I switched to a mac this past week.  And some of the files got accidentally left on the PC. Please e-mail me your page directly and I'll upload it to the gallery.   Enjoy!  

Our next challenge will post on Oct. 1st.  It's a 'zainy' twist on fall colors...that's my only hint.  

just a quick note...

I'll have the CS8 gallery up this weekend.  And if you sent me your LO via e-mail (and a couple of you did) I NEED you to send them again.  The files accidently got left on my PC.  Last week I made the switch to a mac :o)  Still learning...but I LOVE IT.  Thanks for understanding.   

CS8

I seriously can't believe I'm actually posting challenge number eight!  This has been such a FUN and creative process for me.  The only down side...I wish that I had more time to spend on this site.  I have dreams of what it could be..."someday".  For now I'll just have to accept that it is what it is. 

And on that note...I'm still inspired!  I still love COLOR!  And I still LOVE making these challenges.  I do hope that you will continue to join us with your pages and projects.  And that we all can be a community that inspires each other and continues to learn and challenge ourselves.

I have always found such inspiration in fabrics.  And the way that fabrics and prints are used together.  Quilts are an excellent example of how color, prints and pattern can come together to create something beautiful (not to mention practical)   My mother has a heirloom crazy quilt from my great grandmother, I've made a baby quilt or two in my days, and I have a STACK of quilt magazines at the ready! 

So imagine how inspired I became when I envisioned paper and quilting coming together!  I have created our next colorstory challenge around this very thing...inspired by this photo (no secret that it happens to be from Pottery Barn again)

 

But just look at those sunset colors of red + orange paired with those cool prints.  This is NOT your grandma's quilt here folks!  But it's colors certainly could make her take notice!

From the inspiration photo I've pulled out warm and rich tones; bright in their own right, yet they remind me that summer is coming to an end and fall will soon be here.

CS8 Storyboard

CS8 Studio notes

 

There are two distinct color combinations selected here...the Basic Grey new Ambrosia paper line worked so perfectly with the inspiration photo I just had to use it!  And the Scenic Route new Sonoma paper line matched the color swatch with it's rich warm tones.  Two suggestions that would work...but I can't wait to see what papers you choose for your challenge!

Here's my take on the photo; I just had to try to recreate that quilt! And I think I pulled it off...and made it into the cover of a mini book.

Kim H.

  

It was so easy to do to.  I started with a card stock base that was cut to fit the measurements of the cover.  Then each paper was cut to a 1" strip.  Then I just started to layer and then trim and then place another pattern strip and trim. Once all the paper strips were in place I trimmed all the edges. 

Then the FUN...adding the stitching to create the "quilt" effect.  Using my sewing machine & plain white thread I stitched just above and below the edge of each paper strip from left to right. You can see a close up of the stitching in the photo below.

 

Jana

 

Jana's studio notes:

I LOVE doing layouts like this that allow you to use up a bunch of those gorgeous scraps we keep saving! I decided to use all the warmth and color in my background and then allow the words to pop in black and white. These letter stickers have been hanging out in my stash forever! Just waiting for the right layout. :D I believe the "BAND" stickers are by American Crafts. Unfortunately, I have no idea who made the school-type letter stickers.

The CS8 sketch is designed to incorporate paper strips on your page.  But as always it's a place to jump start your creativity.  Reply in the comments section with a link to your page on-line by Sept 25th.  I'm very excited about the possibilities and can't wait to see what you come up with in your challenge entry.

 

CS7 Gallery

 

So may fun and playful pages...full of COLOR!  I love them all.  Watch your inbox...because a couple of you (Kelly & Anita) should be recieving an e-mail soon with an exciting invitation attached!

Our Featured CS7 Entries