Studio Calico

When I saw the exclusive map paper from the Mind the Gap kit, I thought immediately how perfectly the colors would work with my Countryside and State Fair tags. I used the tags to frame the photo and punched hearts from the map paper to reinforce the journaling.

I like that I was able to use a seemingly travel themed product for a layout that wasn't about traveling (well, not in the traditional sense anyway).

Supplies: July Main Kit- Mind The Gap;Tags-Studio Calico Countryside and State Fair,;Patterned Papers- Studio Calico cream die cut ledger; Stickers- Studio Calico addy alpha in green, orange label stickers,Documentary die cut stickers; Countryside die cut stickers; Punches- Fiskars My Funny Valentine squeeze punch, Stampin' Up! Heart to Heart punch; Pen- American Crafts Precision Pen .03 tip

Insider Tips

Hey y'all! It's Stephanie here with today's insider tip. Which, consequently, might be the world's shortest/quickest insider tip. :) That's good, because that's how I have to do things these days if I ever want to have creative time. Quick and to the point!
I wanted to talk about how I created my "For the Love of Sadie" layout this month. I love the playful vibe that the circles give to this playful layout. It just seemed to match the mood of the photos!

There are obviously lots of ways to crop your photos into circles. Coluzzle (are those still around?!?!?!), punches, etc.

I cropped these photos in PSE9 using the cookie cutter tool and it was super easy. I've selected a different photo now so that I can walk you through how to do this step by step.
1.Open the photo in PSE and select the "cookie cutter" tool.


2. Select the circle shape from the drop down menu. There are so many fun shapes I want to try next time!


3. Place and size circle where you want it on photo and crop. Note: for the Sadie layout, I thought it was fun to use several different sizes. I didn't worry about exact dimensions, i just went with what looked right.


4.Select "print" and choose print dimensions. Most of my circles were big enough to take up most of a 4x6 print, so I just printed them this way. You could easily print these as a collage as well. I'm not exactly the best at conserving paper, I just usually take the route that is quickest. HA!

Now go try this yourself! Have fun and make sure to share what you make!
xoxo

Product Spotlight

Right now I'm in the process of preparing decorations for Harper's fifth birthday party. The theme of her party is "May Flowers".  I've been searching for cute cupcake toppers/picks to no avail, so I figured I'd just make my own. Notions fit the bill perfectly!

I simply slid the notions onto toothpicks (adhering them with a glue dot) and then topped each notion with a different embellishment. Voila! Simple, easy, classic. Doesn't get much sweeter than that!
Supplies: Notions-Studio Calico, Crepe paper embellishments-Girls Paperie,Resin Bows-Jenni Bowlin Studio,Accordian Flowers-American Crafts,Button-Making Memories,Toothpicks-grocery store.

NSD : multiphoto challenge

 

Happy NSD friends!  I've got a fun challenge for you to try... MULTI-PHOTOS!  Single page layouts come the easiest to me and the idea of putting more than one photo on a page stresses me out just a little bit.  But multi-photo layouts turn out to be my favorites because they tell such great stories. So I'm going to challenge you to create a layout using FOUR OR MORE photos.  Have fun!

Stephanie's Page :

Kelly's page :

(Supplies: Kit - Lawn Party, Clear Skies)

Link your page in the comments of this post by Friday May 13th for a chance to win a My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Lush 2 prize package!

Sunday Sketch

Happy happy Sunday, y'all!  I hope your weekend has been fun and relaxing!  This is Stephanie and today I have a brand new Sunday Sketch to share with you. It's super fun and inspiring, and I hope it will jump start your creativity!

This particular sketch comes from Kelly Noel and is based on a layout in her Singin' in the Rain gallery. Sigh.  She's so creative.


I used favorite pieces of Countryside and State Fair for this layout. There are so many great colors and patterns, and the two lines actually work very well together.

Supplies: cardstock- bazzill; patterned paper - elementary show your work, countryside county line, countryside barn swallow; stickers - state fair die cut stickers, countryside die cut stickers, cream labels, yellow labels,chipboard alpha stickers in tan, addy alpha-green ; rub-ons - tweets woodgrain; fabRips- type; tags- countryside; veneer butterflies; corner rounder; making memories slice elite, basic elements design card

I decided to flip Kelly's sketch, and instead of three small photos, I did one larger photo and a journaling block. Also, I am not even close to being as mist-tastic as Kelly is, so I used fabrips, border stickers, and patterned paper to make my photo mat/block more visually interesting.

I kept my title placement in the same area, and cut stars with my Slice to layer behind the title. Stickers and veneer add a little "fun" to the title block.

I can't wait to see what all of you creative ladies come up with. Please link us to your layout using the sketch in the comments on this post by Monday, April 11 and we'll draw two winners for SC gift cards. Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Stephanie's Favorite Kit

My favorite kit was Baker's Dozen.

It was a close call between Granny's Cupboard and Baker's Dozen... but Baker's won out.  How could I not love it? It had doilies, candy colors, feminine touches, pearls, scallops, and lace. I think April pretty much made me my perfect kit in this one.

The colors still make me so very happy when I look at them. And the BasicGrey Nook and Pantry line was one of my favorite lines of 2010.

I went nuts with this kit. And several of the layouts that I truly loved are ones I can't share because they are out for publication.

But I adore this layout of Harper. It's super simple, but really showcases the photos and how I feel about her.

Another page I loved is this layout of Sadie. Classic Sadie. Heee! I had so much fun layering and playing with textures, patterns, and colors.

Oh Baker's Dozen...how I miss thee. You were the quintessential kit. Sigh.

Sunday Sketch

Happy Sunday! It's Lisa here, and I can't wait to share this week's sketch with you. 

It's based off of one of Stephanie Howell's layouts from the Who's Who gallery. I love Steph's design - the vertical lines contrast so well with the horizontal photo, and I adore the texture that her embellishments add.

I have to admit something - most of the time when I follow a sketch, I look it over, come up with a general plan of how I want to interpret it, and then head to my desk. I don't refer back to the sketch till I'm done - and it's usually a bit of a surprise to see how well I have (or haven't!) stuck to the design.
Supplies: Patterned paper - Elementary Show Your Work,  Elementary Atmosphere, Elementary DieCut Blue, Pelaton from Napa Valley; Stickers - Elementary Label Stickers; Wood Veneer - Stars, Alphabet, Frames; Mist - Mister Huey's Atmosphere, Mister Huey's Lunch Tray, Mister Huey's Applejack, Mister Huey's Sunshine, Mister Huey's School House;  Staples - Tiny Attacher

As you can see, I maintained the strong vertical lines from Steph's original layout. Instead of using patterned paper, I masked off sections and used my Mister Huey's Color Mists to create a rainbow background. I also took a cue from Steph's page and added my title to the white space in my photo. I kept my journaling along the left side as she did, but contained it in one corner with a veneer frame.

To add a little interest to my color blocked background, I added patterned paper, stickers and embellishments to each section. The Mister Huey's Mists are matched to the Elementary line, so it was easy to find accents that would coordinate with the colors.

I can't wait to see how you take on the sketch!  Add a link to your project by Saturday for a chance to win one of 2 $5 gift cards! Good luck!

Stephanie's Storage

It's Stephanie here with a fun peek at how I store my Mister Huey's mists!

I use a vintage rotating wood stamp holder, most likely from an office. I bought it at this awesome shop in Waco, TX called Laverty's. It's an antique/junk (heavy emphasis on the junk) store and i can spend hours there.

I never knew quite what to do with it, it's been sitting in my scrap room for years. At one point I had making memories paints in it, but i didn't have enough to fill it up so i took them out.
when mister huey came to my house i had an inkling (HA, i'm a dork) that he would fit perfectly, and he did. They all look so pretty lined up!

Have a cool idea for organizing your Mister Huey's?  Share with us in the comments!

Stephanie's Challenge

Happy Monday, SC friends! Or Happy Challenge Day!  This is Stephanie and I'm so excited to be hosting the challenge this week.

I'm a little bit braindead lately (those newborns take all of my energy!) and I thought and thought about what I could challenge you with this week.  And suddenly it came to me! I realized that I had hundreds of photos on my iPhone. I took about 300 in the hospital when we had Cate and Lucy.  I'm not so great at printing or scrapbooking these photos, but they are invaluable! They provide a "slice of life" approach to photography...one I just can't capture with my bulky DSLR.

So here is my challenge to you this week. Scrap photos that you took on your cell phone. Don't worry about the quality.  Just use them! 

Here's what I came up with:

I printed 12 iphotos off of my iphone. I arranged them in a grid pattern, and added bits and pieces of SC goodness all over the page. I especially had fun with the veneer stars...I just never get tired of these! Supplies used: Patterned Paper - Studio Calico Documentary Itinerary, Studio Calico Elementary Die Cut Pink, Library, Nibbles,  Studio Calico Home Front Dollhouse; Stickers - Studio Calico Documentary Label Stickers, Elementary Label Stickers , Anthology Label Stickers, Home Front Label Stickers, Home Front Alphabet Stickers, Wood Veneers - Stars; Mist - Mister Huey's Calico White; Pen- Uniball Signo

I cut the left portion off of the large veneer star and used it to frame my title:

I know that all of you may not have a cell phone that takes photos. If that is the case, here are a few alternatives to the challenge. Use my layout as a sketch and lift it for your own layout. Use square photos on your layout. Use a photo that you simply did not think was quality enough to scrap.

For those of you who do take photos on your phone, I can't wait to see what you do with them!

Post your links here in the comment section when you have it completed for a chance to win a $5 GC. I will also have a place in the forum to share your creations with everyone.  Have fun!

xoxo

Design Team Spotlight: Stephanie

Name: Stephanie Howell

City, State: Savannah, GA

Blog: Just Me, My Soldier, and My Four Little Chicks 

How long have you been a DT member? 2 1/2 years...since May 2008.

Favorite SC product? The new notions, definitely. I love them!

Any rituals when your kits arrive? I open the box, separate everything into piles, and slowly look through each pile. I then put each kit and add-on into a SC crop bag.

All time favorite SC kit? It's a toss-up between Baker's Dozen and Newsstand.

Three products you can't live without: JBS label stickers, scallop border punches, AC precision pens

Three people you get scrappy inspiration from:  Jenni Bowlin, Kelly Goree, Jen McGuire

Three goals you have:

1. I'd love to eventually regularly contribute to a scrapbooking magazine (Scrapbooks Etc. has long been a dream of mine).

2. Get back in shape. Teach my body to run and maybe even run a half marathon one day.

3. One day I'd love to go back to school, get my Master's in Library Science, and become a librarian.

Take a look at Stephanie's beautiful workspace:

And Stephanie is sharing three of her favorite photos...
1. Our family reunited after a particularly harrowing year-long deployment that my husband, Jimmy, had in Afghanistan.

2. I've just always loved everything about this photo. I'm totally lucky I caught this moment.

3. This perfectly represents my beautiful, vibrant girls and how I see them.