Studio Calico

Hello everyone!

Here's a video I made to show you how to make fun and textured background using your Silhouette and gesso!

All you'll need is patterned paper, white cardstock to use in your Cameo, gesso and Mr Huey!

Now watch the video and let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

 

NSD Make & Takes

We've got 2 great Make & Takes for you! 

Dawn McVey made some super cute tags! You can download the PDF here:  Download DawnNSD

Celince Navarro has a great tutorial on a quick and easy travel journal. You can see it here:  Download Celine

Have fun! 

May's class is almost here but it's not too late to sign up! Celine has put together a super kit  to accompany her Get Messy class. Here are a few samples of you can do with the kit.

Nicole Samuels made a layout with her kit:

Supplies:  Get Messy class kit;  Lemonade Mister Huey's, Chalk Inks - Teal Damask and Garden Grass, acrylic paint

Nicole Harper did an amazing mini with her kit:

Marcy Penner made a mini using photos from her recent trip to Florida. You can see more details on her blog and in her SC gallery.

Supplies used: Class Kit, Mister Huey Dewey, Mister Huey Classic White, Date Stamp, Jenni Bowlin Fountain Pen Ink, sewing machine, typewriter, Fiskars punches, Jenni Bowlin Tab punch, Tiny Attacher, Prima Chalk Ink in blue, red, grey and green, Glue Dots, Cutterbee scissors, AC Knocks Outs zigzag punch.

Robyn Werlich did an amazing mixed media treatment on the cover of her mini: 

Don't miss out on Celine's class or her kit! Class starts May 1st!

Sunday Sketch

We did a little switcharoo and posted the usual Monday weekly challenge yesterday so that you could get a jumpstart on it on January 1st.  But we're back with a new Sunday Sketch to try!  This one comes from Celine's gorgeous Brooklyn Flea gallery:


Melissa Gener (username mgener1) took the sketch and made it her own with this awesome layout:

Those photos alone make me smile.  Melissa says: "I stuck pretty closely to the original design, just adding a few finishing touches to make it more my style. The original only featured one photo and I expanded that block to include two photos. I switched the position of the title and added additional journaling without really changing the design much at all. Although I have never worked with banners before, I really like how they turned out and will be returning to this technique again.  I also added a little more patterned paper, because that is my favorite scrapbooking supply! Thanks so much for letting me play along with the Sunday Sketch."

And thank you for being a wonderful part of the SC community, Melissa!  To play along with this sketch, just link your layout here by January 10 for your chance to win a SC GC.  Have fun!

Challenge

Hello everyone! Celine here to challenge you this week!
Supplies: Asterisks (Autumn Press); Labels (Memoir); Houses (Memoir); Plano (Classic Calico); Die Cut Tags (Classic Calico); Chipboard Butterflies (Classic Calico); Kraft stars (Classic Calico); Alpha Stickers (Autumn Press); Rose Bud (Autumn Press); Bundle (Autumn Press); Label Stickers (Autumn Press); Butterflies stickers (Autumn Press)

I've been inspired to create tiny collages as embellishments these days and I truly encourage you (I mean, CHALLENGE YOU!) to create your own! Don't be scared : it's easier than it seems! Simply pick a bunch of small embellishments that you like. Here, I chose Studio Calico chipboard and veneer embellies and added stickers, fabric, felt and sewed everything together!

Work on a small surface : a tag, a chipboard, an ATC. Then glue, punch, sew, paint, mist : it's easy, fast and looks great in the end! What you can do is create several collages like this and pick the ones you wanna use on your layout later on!

On my layout, I simply glued the ones that I created and have a bunch left, for future projects!
Those small collages bring interest, depth and texture to any project : cluster them all together and you won't need much on your layout!

Link us up to your layout using my challenge by Monday, December 27 for your chance to win a SC GC!  Have fun!

Sunday Sketch

It's Celine here with your new Sunday Sketch, based on a beautiful layout from Davinie's October Field Guide gallery...

 
I took the sketch and created a 8.5x11 layout using the new Studio Calico stamps...
Supplies: Papers ( Studio Calico Memoir Wallpaper/Heirloom); Stamps (My Happy/You are the Best); Veener Asterisks; Die Cut Tags Autumn Press; Chipboard alpha cream; 6x12 book plate

Leave a link to your layout here by Monday, October 17 for a chance to win a SC GC!  Good luck!

Challenge

Hello everyone! Céline here, coming up with a new challenge for you this week!

I played with Studio Calico new collection, Classic, for this very colorful layout. You might wonder "how come there's color as she's using the Classic collection, which is more Cream & Brown?"
The patterns and designs of this collection are just soooo great and easy to use, and the quality of the paper allows you to use Mr Huey mists and Jenni Bowlin dye inks. That's what I did!

  I simply added JBS inks on a craft sheet, some water and colored some pieces of paper : the designs remain visible but you got colors now!

Your challenge is : grab some cream/white patterned that you have and play with Mr Huey inks, JBS or Distress inks to add colors! Post your layout here by Monday, October 10 to win a GC. Have fun!

Kit Spotlight

Hi friends!  I know it's almost time for the September kit Reveal but wanted to share another layout I made with August's kit, Boardwalk!

I misted and layered the gorgeous Pink Paislee scallop mistable trim... it's a super fun embellishment.  Hope you're enjoying Boardwalk and don't forget to share your layouts with us in the SC Gallery!

Insider Tips

I've been playing with my Big Shot a lot lately. It's been over two years that I brought it straight from Singapore and I just can't live without it now!

What I love the best are those Big dies that cut through anything and as I recently got to put my hands on some great dies (leaves, flowers, labels...), I thought I would try with the Fabrips and guess what? It works amazingly well! The difference between using Fabrips and regular fabric pieces is that Fabrips are sticky : when you cut them with your scissors or cutting machine, you won't have any thread coming out from an end or the other!




On this layout, I simply cut several Fabrips with different dies with my Big Shot machine, then used my sewing machine.

Supplies list : Countryside (County Line, Barn Swallow, Wildflower); Alphas (Addy Alpha Yellow, Addy Alpha Pink, Chipboard Alpha Stickers Tan); Fabrips (Pink Houndstooth, Green Woodgrain, Yellow); Notions (Countryside Pink, State Fair Yellow); Wood Veneer Buttons; Lbel Stickers State Fair; 6x6" yellow labels.

I peeled off the back of the two Fabrips labels and then sewed through them directly on the layout.

For the flower, I layered different Fabrips and for the leaves, I kept the paper on the back of each Fabrips leaf and sewed.

I love mixing paper and fabric but Fabrips makes life so much easier! They are thick sticky piece of fabric, really easy if you need to cut them or punch them!

Member Spotlight

Hello there, Celine here to share our newest member spotlight... I LOVE what this girl makes!
Name:  Rahel Menig
Studio Calico Username:  RahelMenig
City, State, Country:  Gilroy, CA USA
Blog:  http://www.swissgirldesigns.com

When did you start scrapbooking and what got you started? Now, the problem with this question is, I can't really remember the exact year when I started with scrapbooking... But it had to be in 2004 or 2005, cause my favorite Aunty came back from a trip to Canada and was totally excited about her new found hobby. She didn't really had a lot of time to explain the whole thing to me, but said "you always have to use three of every element on a double layout". I went home that day and started my very first mini album from scratch, using some baby pictures of me that I found in my moms drawer. At that time there were absolutely NO scrapbooking stores in Switzerland (yes, I'm a real Swiss miss ;) ) so I had to improvise. I used lots of that normal crafting cardstock, would make my own paper with coffee and berry stains and would print out word documents feauturing ABC's.

What are your top 5 favorite products and why?
1. I love love love my pink hot glue gun! I pretty much use it to glue anything and everything on my pages. It even works GREAT to add some cool dimensions :D

2. Patterned paper, patterned paper, I can't live without patterned paper! I like to make lots of banners (and glue it with my pink hot glue gun...), make triangles as part-matting behind pictures or cut funny boarders to add around the layout.

3. Thickers! I seriously can't get enough Thickers ;) I tried lots of different brands for sticker alphas, but I always returned to American Crafts somehow.. Especially love the glitter ones ;) heeee

4. It's new and super addicting: Washi Tape! Yes, this really needs to go on the top 5 list.. They add so much fun and color and are super versatile too, f.ex. I like to stick plain pictures on the wall with this tape and it looks like a million bucks :D

5. Now here it gets hard, cause my list of top favorite products is long.. But I guess I would pick plain old white tissue paper or old street maps for the last point. I love to add lots of texture with these two things, making the pages more interesting to look at.

Some other favorites would be: glassine bags, typewriter, sewing machine, pearls and baker's twine :D Oh, and not to forget: fabric!

What is your favorite Studio Calico product and why? I really like the patterned paper, especially Mud Pie, Betsy and Grove from the Countryside Collection. I seriously can't get enough of the Mud Pie Alphas!! Even made a little wall art with one of the letters.... dumdeedum.. Oh, and I can't tell you in a higher voice, how AWESOME these paper work in my minis! love love love!
What is your favorite go-to or signature technique? Hmmm... (thinking about my latest layouts and what could be called special about them...)  I guess the layering and the banners would be my signature style. I love to write title-parts or journaling with my vintage typewriter and then cut them into banners and adhere them in a way they add dimension to my page. By layering I mean mainly the 'behind the picture' stuff that is usually going on in my layouts. I love to use white tissue paper and doilies to make it all interesting.  Also I love to use non-scrapbooking related stuff like road maps for example or meaningful ephemera scraps. One more thing is that I often scrap about everyday situations like f.ex. getting a new computer. I made like 4 pages only about that topic ;)

Where do you find your inspiration? Pretty much everywhere. Since I can't make up my layouts in my head in advance, I just go with gut feelings while I work. If there are paint brushes on my desk I might be inspired to do some background painting, if I have flowers in reach I might use them on the page. I also have my favorite blogs that I like to check out daily, but I never try to do the exact same and copy other people's work. Thinking about the question a bit longer I think I get inspired most by products that I love and have in reach. For example I have a stack of doilies in my drawer and use them on pretty much every single page I do...

What is your favorite color and/or color combo? I would say I usually scrap with light colors and soft patterned paper. Basically I love naturals and then rock it with some color pops. I absolutely adore the power of a soft and feminine yellow in combination with a nice teal or 'Mud Pie Alpha Blue'. Also I love to throw in a bit pink or rose - oh, and I looooove white or creme Bazzil Bling cardstock!

Tell us a bit about your design process. I have a cardboard shipping box with my favorite items like patterned paper and alphas in it. I usullay put that box on the bed (since I scrap in our bedroom...), go back to my computer and look for a picture that I would like to make a layout or tell the story about. Once I found it I print it out and go back to the box and look for cool items and start combining the products. I put on some relaxing music (usually Mendy Gledhill or Movie Soundtracks) and just let myself go I guess.. ;) It's very important for me, that my desk is very clean (probably because it's a very limited space...) if it's messy I sure can't make a good page! Also sometimes I just can't connect with the picture/story I chose in the first place and get all frustrated. If that happens, well, then I usually have to find another picture or two ;)

Tell us a bit about what else you do since we know you are creative in more ways than just scrapbooking. My heart beats for photography. I actually made an apprenticeship in the field of photography back in Switzerland. I love to go out and just have fun with unusual angles, light situations or what so ever, as long as it's different! Also I just started with watercolor after a veeeery long break. I used to go to classes with my mom, like a million years ago. I'm totally hooked again and hope to incorporate that with my layouts somehow :)

Thanks for sharing your beautiful work, girl!