So often the hybrid projects I make are intended as gifts.  I make hybrid cards to give away, cute hybrid treat boxes or containers… again, to give away.  This is great, and the recipients always seem to like them, but for this month’s challenge, I thought it would be fun to create something to use and/or display in your own home.

One project I have been wanting to do for awhile is a morning checklist for my kids.  I have a few simple jobs I like them to do before they leave for school, and up until now that list has been posted on a small piece of paper (that has become water-stained and crumpled over the weeks) on their bathroom mirror.  I wanted something a little more permanent and easy for the kids to mark off.  I created this checklist in Photoshop, printed it out, put it in a frame, and hung it above the hooks where my kids hang their jackets and backpacks.  By framing it, I created an instant whiteboard.  They can use a dry erase marker to check off the jobs, and the marker easily wipes off with a cloth or paper towel.  I mounted it to the wall using Command Velcro Strips (my go-to for hanging pictures).  This allows us to easily take the list down if we need to, and it hangs right back up.  So far it is working great!

Your Getting Hybrid challenge for this month is to create something you can frame and display in your home.  It can be as simple as this checklist, or maybe you can create a pretty display of your favorite quote… or, you can get a bit more fancy and add some hybrid flowers or dimensional pieces to your display.  Do whatever makes you happy!  I’ve been itching to create a hybrid project to go in a shadow box frame… this challenge may just be my excuse to do that!

Our amazing hybrid creative team came up with some great inspiration:

From Rebecca (reboscraps) using Family Reunion by Jady Day Studio and Suzy Q Scraps.

From Amanda (Abhall76) using Countryside Harmony by Scrapmuss Designs.

From quietangelsb using Quentin & Emma by Graham Like the Cracker.

Here are the ScrapMatters challenge guidelines:
- Entries must be posted in the Getting Hybrid challenge gallery HERE, and also linked up in the forum challenge thread HERE.
- You will have until the end of February to complete your project
- You’ll get 1 point for designing, printing and putting together your project, and then posting the photo of it in the gallery. You will get a bonus point if you use a new release within one week of it’s release to complete your project. You must mention that you used a new product in the forum thread to get the bonus point!

Good luck, and I can’t wait to see what you all create!

Jaime (of Simply J Studio)

It’s Heather (snowdrop) here with another Grand Theft Layout challenge! This week we are going to lift fonnetta’s wonderful gallery! I have a bunch of her layouts in my favorites and couldn’t believe she hadn’t been lifted yet!!

I lifted Thankful:

Here’s my lift. Uses friendsdotcom by Amy Stoffel and Lyndsay Riches, and If Only in my Dreams Alpha by Wimpychompers.

More inspiration from our great creative team!

TanyaH666 lifted:

And scrapped this cute layout, using For The Love Of Girls and For The Love Of Add-On by Jady Day Studio and Stolen Moments:

QuiltyMom lifted:

And scrapped this great 2 pager, using Thoroughly Amused by Plum Dumpling Designs and Haynay Designs, and Choo! Choo! by Chelle’s Creations

becca372 lifted:

And scrapped this beautiful layout, using Captivated by Amy Stoffel

And finally, hoo-rah lifted:

And scrapped this sweet layout, using Happy Anniversary by WM[squared] Designs

Full rules:

*Pick one of fonnetta’s layouts, and lift it! Feel free to twist, turn, etc. Post your layout into the Grand Theft Layout Gallery AND to this post to get one point for completing this challenge!
*You can get an additional point for using a NEW ScrapMatters product on your lift but you must list that you used a new release in your post.
*Your layout MUST be unique to this challenge, no double-dipping!
*You do not have to use ScrapMatters products, but we certainly love it when you do!
*You will have until the end of February to complete this challenge.

And the most important rule, have fun!

Hi everyone, Andilynn here.

I know, I know this isn’t a template!  Sorry we had a little snafu in the scheduling.  I didn’t have a template just hanging around so I thought that I would share this article about monochromatic color theory. I’m not an expert by any means but I have taken quite a few design classes that had some focus on color theory.

Monochromatic color schemes have gotten a reputation for being boring and therefore creating boring layouts, hybrid projects or home decor. I want to show you that monochromatic color schemes can create projects that are anything but boring.  Colors in their pure, pigmented state are very saturated and therefore very strong.  But too much of a super-saturated color and wowsers, you need to look away. It is hard to look at strong, bold colors for a long time, our eyes start to want to find someplace else to look.  That isn’t what you want people doing when you create a layout or project. You want to create something that is pleasing to the eye. So go ahead and use strong colors but try using them as accents.  For the color that makes up the majority of your project add a little (or a lot) of white, gray or black.  By looking at the color lesson examples you will see that monochromatic does not equal monotony!

I think we’ve all heard that color can evoke and convey emotion. Here are some common emotions associated with colors:

Red is associated with heat, energy, passion, danger, excitement and energy.
Orange is associated with warmth, joy, creativity, success and encouragement.
Yellow is associated with the sun, happiness, spontaneity and enthusiasm.
Green is associated with nature, freshness, healing and fertility. Also money!
Blue is associated with the sea and the sky, strength, stability, trust and loyalty.
Purple is associated with royalty, power, luxury and ambition.
White is associated with purity, cleanliness and safety.
Black is associated with power, elegance, evil, mystery, formality.

So when you want your layout, wardrobe or hybrid craft project to speak, using one color is a particularly effective way to get your message across.  Use variations of the same color and you have a layout, home decor or project that can really convey the emotions you want.

The terms hue, tint, shade and tone can have different meanings depending on the context it is used in.  We are concentrating on color theory the definitions of which can be a little different than the common usage–so to make sure we’re all on the same page I’ve provided some definitions for you:

Hue is just another word for color.  Red, yellow and blue are the hues that I am using to demonstrate, but you can tint or shade any hue.

A tint of a color is a color that has had any amount of white added to it.  It can be a little white or a lot of white, they are all called tints.
A shade of a color, likewise is any color that has had any amount of black added to it.  A little bit of black or a lot of black, it is still a shade.

The tone of a color is how dark or how light it is.  The tone is determined by the amount of gray in a color-how much white, gray or black has been used in that color.  So tints are tonally lighter and shades are tonally darker than the pure colors. The amount of white, gray or black (lightness to darkness of a color) is what is really being determined when we talk about tone.

When you take a color and add white you get a tint of that color, for example a tint of red is pink. When you take a color and add black you get a shade of that color. For example burgundy is a shade of red. Where the color falls on the spectrum of white, gray or black determines it’s tone. It’s much easier to see the explanation than to read it so I prepared three examples using the primary colors of red, yellow and blue.  If you take your pure, base color and add the outer color to it you will get a variation of the colors in the middle, depending on how much pure color you have and how much of the white, gray or black you used.  I didn’t add arrows between the hue and the gray, but they would be there too.

Red monochromes

Yellow Monochromes

Blue monochromes

When creating a monochromatic color palette or layout you’re not limited to just the colors in the little boxes, there is an entire range of tints, shades and tones associated with a single base color as you can see from the following examples using our same primary colors–red, yellow and blue:

I hope this helped explain the difference between the terms hue, tone, tint and shade and gave you some new ideas on how to apply this in your layouts, craft projects, home decor and clothing to convey the message you want to send.  I decided to take a quick peek in the gallery and see if I could find any monochromatic layouts.  This was totally spur of the moment, so please take a minute to give some love to these ladies who weren’t afraid to use primarily one hue in their layouts!

Cheryl (gonewiththewind) created this monochromatic layout that I adore.

by Cheryl

Here’s another one by scrappymelly

template – Fuss Free: Portraits Set One by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs
kit – A Photo a Day by Plum Dumpling Designs
word art – Hidden Messages by Plum Dumpling Designs
font – Slim Sans Serif

Canadianmommy did a layout using all different tones of grayed purple:

by Canadianmommy

Note Card from School Days by WM(squared) Designs

Everything else is from Magic Winterland by the ScrapMatters Design Team