Heidi Swapp and Color

At CHA I was lucky enough to meet and have time to chat with Heidi Swapp.  I have adored her and her work since she worked for Making Memories back when they ruled the market.  A few years ago she created The House of 3 along with Rhonna Farrer and Janet Hopkins.  Their original products were digital (png and abr files); something I had no idea how to use.  They showed me a world of paper crafting that was unlike anything I had seen before and I slowly became familiar with Photoshop Elements.  When House of 3 disbanded, Heidi teamed up with Jessica Sprague to teach several online hybrid crafting classes and I eagerly  took all of them.  Now Heidi is back with branded products and I want to show you some of them.

Color Shine

Heidi has long been a fan of mists and for a long time worked with Tattered Angles products.  Now she has her own line  called Color Shine.  It is not out yet (target date was Sept. 1 but since that passed, I assume it will be released soon), While at CHA, I was lucky to use some of the colors and even got a bottle of Gold Lame .   I can say the sprays are  gorgeous and full of sparkle and pizzaz.  One thing I like about the line is the color palate.  There are only 12 colors but they are gorgeous.  Rather than overwhelm us with hundreds of colors that are very similar she went with a gorgeous pallet that really is pretty and feminine yet contains colors that can just as easily go masculine.  Twelve perfect colors.  Heidi has made several projects by mixing the colors and the effect is divine.  I was surprised to see black show up in the mix but as you can see from the projects below- it is gorgeous and fun.  The Color Shine bottles contain a "mixing bead" which makes mixing the color and glitter together easier and less tricky than   Glimmer Mists.  I hope this helps avoid the glitter clogging issues seen with Glimmer Mist   you probably know they can be a pain and clog very easily).

Color Magic

With all that spray we need something to color and Heidi has provided gorgeous papers with a varnish resist perfect for coloring with Color Shine or your favorite Distress Inks/Stains.  The Color Magic lines comes in 2 lines of Memory Files, 12x12 paper,  Letter Stickers, Chipboard Alphas, CM Notes and Banner Delights.  The papers are high quality cardstock overlaid with a design in grey ink and the clear varnish that resists the added color.  

Color Magic Live 
Heidi just taught an online class called Color Magic Live.  The class came with a kit- always a fabulous way to get and use products you might not otherwise touch.  This kit was very generous- we made the envelope, 2 cards and an amazing Memory File and still had quite a bit of paper and ephemera left over to play with later.   The class was fun and her designs were fantastic.  I love taking classes and completing kits from other designers because it is a terrific way to learn new techniques.

First, we made this amazing black and white envelope with Leopard Spot teal card using Color Shine and Color Magic as well as some of her other product lines (Sugar Chic Papers, Disco Hearts, and No Limits Destination Pennants, and Photo Captions).   I love the design of this card and envelope combination.  The simplicity in the design makes it perfect for adding to my repertoire but it is interesting enough that it looks complicated and unique.

Since Color Shine hasn't been released yet, I had to make my own Black Mist.   I used a Mini Mister, Black Soot Distress Ink Refiller, and water to make a spray mist and went to town.

The second card is a GORGEOUS but super easy project.  I love the color palate of light blue/teal and silver and all of the texture. 

Memory File

My first Memory File 

The final class project was a Memory File.  Heidi taught us several techniques for adding pages to the Memory File using some of her products in unique ways.  I fell in love with the Memory File this summer after I made a sherbet-colored album for my daughter.  I was on a time crunch but the album looks amazing and you would never know I did it in less than a day.

The Memory File's biggest draw for me is that it isn't as overwhelming as a traditional scrapbook album.  I have long been a fan of the mini album for that same reason.  Heidi's Memory File takes the mini album and gives it a fresh approach.  More photos of my Sherbet Memory File here.

The Color Magic Memory File was colored with the same Black Soot Distress Mist and I love the graphic appeal of the black and white cover. 

Such a fun project.  The cover is decorated with one of Heidi's Vintage Instaframes  and various Trimmings.  To add fun and flair to the Trimmings gently hit them with heat from a heat gun.  The material with curl on itself.  Go slow because you could easily end up with a big ol' mess.   The bow is seam binding sprayed with Glimmer Mist and scrunched before drying it with a heat gun.

CHA Eye Candy
I will end with some photos I took at Heidi's booth at CHA.  The projects are gorgeous.

 See the fun Vintage Instaframes used as a garland.  So cute and so easy. 

I have no idea what these are-small cards? tags? package enclosures?- but they are super cute.  I love the color palate and all the texture. 

What a fun and simple way to decorate a frame WITHOUT a photo.  

This project I couldn't stop looking at.  I love the colors- Heidi mixed the Georgia Peach and Primrose Color Shine sprays together.  The base is a her new 6x8 Acrylic Display Stand.  

HeidiSwapp.com To see all of Heidi's products including the those being released this fall  

Digital Products To purchase her new digital products-that just went live this week.  There is a 25% off coupon available at the shop. 

Blog

Tutorials, Videos, and more  Heidi is passionate about teaching and her videos are always well done, include her family, and show that even Ms. Swapp isn't a perfect crafter. 

Twitter and Instagram.  Heidi is a prolific Twitter and Instagram user.  She posts products all the time as well as projects her design team has made.  

My Craft Channel Heidi has consistently taught high quality and interesting products on MCC.  

Heidi's tagline is "Make Pretty Stuff" and she certainly fulfills that goal. 

Laters Baby.