Studio Calico

Suzy Planatamura

Happy Wednesday!  Kelly here with a look at your fabulous April Guest Designer, Suzy Plantamura. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Suzy in person over the past year, I let me tell you... she's one of those friends who you LOVE spending time with.  Hilarious, energetic, and kind-hearted on top of all her creativity.  Be sure to check out her beautiful layouts in this month's gallery.
Here's a little Q&A with my fabulous friend Suzy...

When did you start scrapbooking? When I had my daughter Sophie (who is now 11), I had never been a home mom and didn’t quite know what to do with my time! I loved art and crafts and had dabbled in scrapping before (can you say Creative Memories?), so I dove in more seriously.  After making a few pages, I decided I was a pro and it was time to enter the CK HOF contest. I didn’t win of course, but my husband put my pages on our families online website and sent them to some friends. One of these friends had a wife who was the Creative Director at “meandmybigideas”. She asked me to do design work for them and this was way back when they were making stick people stickers, but I still said yes!!!  I kept entering HOF every year for the next six before I finally won in 2008, the last year the contest was held! I have been doing work for CK ever since and love it.


Where do you find your inspiration? EVERYWHERE I LOOK! Life inspires me. Photo’s inspire me. Nature inspires me. New supplies inspire me. Looking at scrapbook magazines and blogs inspire me. I have to admit, I am almost ALWAYS inspired to scrap. It doesn’t take much to get me in the mood to create. If anything, I just wish I had more time to play with my supplies!

what's your favorite thing about this hobby? My pure love of creating and my love of a challenge. I love thinking of new and different ways to combine and use products and pushing myself to think “out side the box”. The challenge of improving or coming up with new techniques keeps scrapbooking interesting and I never tire of it!  

What do you like to focus on when you scrapbook (photos, design, journaling, etc)? I take TONS of pictures and they are the start to each page idea. I print my   photos and then go through my stash of papers and embellishments to find things that match which is the most time consuming part! My favorite part of making a scrapbook page is when all the papers and photos are glued down and I get to add the little embellishment clusters and details that finish off the page.

Besides scrapbooking, what other things do you like to do in your spare time? I love spending time with my girls and all their friends going to the beach and having funky girl photo shoots where they pick out crazy outfits and we take tons of pictures (the girls LOVE doing this!). I am at the school doing room mom stuff and taking pictures so often that I should be on the payroll! I am very involved in my church and work with the children there as well. I walk/run with my dog for about 5 miles daily – she is in great shape for a little fluffy cock-a-poo! 


Five fun facts about you...
1) There is a book called “The Color Code” written by Taylor Hartman that puts personalities into four colors: red (driven by power), blue (driven by emotion), white (driven by peace), and yellow (driven by fun). I have a bad case of yellow and having FUN in life is definitely my priority!

2) I used to be a career woman and was the VP of Sales at a large computer company. I laugh at the memories of my serious, respected, executive behavior now that I am a crazy, fun, carefree child entertainer!

3) I detest shopping – any kind – the grocery store and mall are my worst enemies. My son has always gone to the grocery store, Costco or Target with me picking out food, bringing in all the bags and putting it all away. He leaves TOMORROW for two years to serve a mission in Argentina for our church and I joke that we probably won’t have any food in the house for those two years (but we will still eat – just out!).

4) I don’t like Christmas much – sooooo much stress, so much shopping, so much money spent. I get grumpy in December – bad, bad me!

5) I would have had 10 kids if God thought is was the right thing for me. I’m going to completely fall apart when my kids leave the nest and I will be one of those weird old ladies that have 10 dogs to keep me company and give me unconditional love!

I also asked Suzy to share one of her favorite photos...
I picked this family photo that we used on our Christmas card last year because it was the first and probably the last time for quite a while that we were all six together (seven with the dog)! We were visiting my parents in St. George, Utah for Thanksgiving and I fell in love with this supposedly haunted barn that was across the street from my nephews school. Very rustic and definitely falling apart, but no ghosts were present!  

Thanks for being a wonderful Guest Designer, Suzy!

Tina's Tutorial

Hey guys! Today I'm going to show you how to make a faux paper mache vintage baskets using peet moss gardening pots.

 

You can find these cups at the big box stores in the gardening section. They're super cheap and look just like the vintage looking paper mache cups you'd find at the gift shop. Let's start by gathering the supplies you'll need. Things are going to get a bit messy so the more organized you are, the better. I also recommend doing a sort of assembly line when making these. Trust me, you won't just want to make one.
Supplies: Mister Huey Dark Calico, Claudine Hellmuth Gesso, Claudine Hellmuth Blank Canvas

I highly recommend priming the surface of the peet moss pots before painting. The peet is like sponge and will soak that first layer of paint right up. Using gesso gives you a little more coverage. I also really like Claudine Hellmuth's paint for this project because it's super think and not as watery as some other acrylics out there. You want to make sure you let the cups dry between layers of gesso and paint. If you cups get too wet, they'll probably tear on you. Prime your cups, and walk away. Do a load of laundry, make a snack, do whatever. Just don't be tempted to hurry this process!

Once the primed cups are dry, apply a good thick layer of white paint. If you're using a different acrylic, you may need to apply 2 coats.  Again, let them dry completely before moving on.
Time to make these guys look old and weathered. To do this, you have the option of using either Mister Huey or a the Distress Ink pad. Take sponge or a waded up dry paper towel and bounce it against the cup. Apply as much as you like. Let it dry a bit.
Enter the glitter. I've used two types here. One is the coarse clear glitter from the Martha Stewart line found at Micheal's. The other is glass glitter which is really cool stuff for this kind of project but it's harder to find. 

Take your dry cups, and coat them well with Modpodge. Working quickly, dunk it in glitter while rotating the cup to get a nice coating on the surface. Brush or tap off the excess and flip it upside down on a bottle to dry.
While your glittered beauties are drying, get your embellishments ready.  I've chosen to glitter these as well. The Studio Calico wood veneer butterflies & yellow notions are so perfect for these spring baskets. I wanted to do something different so I also glittered the ampersand symbol found on the State Fair sticker sheet. With the ampersand, I used that super sticky double stick tape. On the wood veneer and yellow notion, I used modpodge. Set those aside to dry. They'll be applied after we add the wire handle to our basket.
Cut a length of wire using wire snips and wipe it down a few times. It's coated with oil to keep it from rusting. We don't want that all over our pretty baskets. Look at the photo above to see how I've attached the handle. I start out by punching tiny holes on either side of the pot.  The wire is easy to work with and I recommend using a pair of pliers for this. It'll make clasping the ends easier on the fingers.

Important tip! Pinch the wire after inserting it into the tiny hole to avoid tearing because it will tear! If this happens, it should be easy to fix by dabbing on a bit of glue.

Now you're ready to decorate! I used a super strong glue for this because you're adhering to glitter which isn't the most sturdy surface.
Here are my finished baskets, ready to fill and give away!

Some other ideas... try using different color paints. Try rubber stamping directly on the pots. These are perfect gifts for every holiday and even birthdays!

Challenge

Happy Monday to all my favorite Studio Calico friends! It's Kimberly here, and I'm bringing you the weekly challenge. This week, I'm challenging you to scrap a layout using a mix of black/white and color photographs on your page. 
 
I chose to enlarge my black and white photograph to make it center stage. Feel free to make any combination you would like with your page.
Supplies: Cardstock- Craft; Patterned Paper-Studio Calico/Crate Dandilions and Cosmo Cricket Upcycle refound, Stickers-Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe Border Stickers, Butterflies and Doilies-Cosmo Cricket, Hello Luscious Petals-Basic Grey, Wood Alphabet-Pink Paislee, Soiree Twine-Pink Paislee, Brads-Stella Rose My Minds Eye, Ink- Mister Huey Bluegrass and Soap Powder. Other: Glue Pen, American Craft: Foam Tab Squares and This to That Dot Runner.
 
For my page I chose to use products from our April kit, Singin in the Rain. I used products from Add on 1-Happy Refrain, Add on 2-Make'em Laugh and Add on 3-Moses Supposes.
 
You have until Monday, April 18 to complete this fun challenge. I can't wait to see your pages in the gallery. Please post a link to your project in the comment section here for a chance to win a $5 Gift Certificate to Studio Calico. Have fun!

We've got some winners to announce!

Please send an email by 4/17/11 to info@studiocalico.com to claim your prize and include the following information:

• Name:   
• Contest: Sunday Sketch or Weekly Challenge
• Prize: $5 GC

Thank you for all for playing along!

 

Sunday Sketch

Happy Sunday everyone!! Waleska here with another fabulous sketch. This one is based on Susan's Go Outside layout from the Singin' In The Rain gallery.

I love the way Susan mixes a lot of patterned papers yet keeps a clean look. I followed the sketch pretty closely except I adjusted it to 8.5x11 and moved the title to the left side.
Supplies: Kit - Singin' In The Rain, JBS ink - Seed Packet

I hope you play along with us! Just leave a link to your layout using the sketch on this post by Monday, April 18 and we'll draw two winners for SC gift cards. Can't wait to see what you all create.

Layout of the Week

The layout of the week is brought to you by Heather Owens, username hlowens.  You can check out more of Heather's fabulous work on her blog or in her gallery at Studio Calico.

Each week, the layout in the gallery is linked, so you can add it to your favorites easily.  This layout has been added to your favorites more than any other layout in the SC community gallery for the week of 4/3/-4/9.

Congratulations Heather! Because of this you have won a $10 gift card to be used on any new purchase at Studio Calico.  Want a chance to win next week? Be sure to upload your projects to the SC gallery, and support your community by adding special projects that catch your eye into your favorites! It could be YOU next week!

Member Spotlight

Hi Everyone!  Susan here again today with another amazing Studio Calico member to spotlight - Mandie Pierce.  I absolutely ADORE her colorful and playful sense of style when it comes to her scrapbook pages.  Here are a few of my favorite pages that Mandie has created, as well as a bit more about her.
Name Mandie Pierce
Studio Calico Username MandieLou
City, State, Country Vacaville, California.  United States
Blog Like A Lemon to a Lime and a Lime to a Lemon 

When did you start scrapbooking and what got you started? I started scrapbooking in 1999, when our daughter was about 6 months old.  I've always kept books with photos and ticket stubs, cards, etc.  But one day at Michael's I discovered they made actual products for this.  I was hooked.  

What are your top 5 favorite products and why?
1-Hero Arts Basic Alphabet stamps.  I use these ALL the time.  I get asked about them all the time too.  I don't have a good answer for why.  I just love the way the look.  (You will find this is likely my answer for most of the things I like.  Lol.)  I like to use the capital "o" with the lower case letters.  
2-Buttons.  Big, little.  Vintage, New.  Doesn't matter...  I just love the way they look.  I think they add a little touch of something to a layout or card - especially if they are sewn onto the project.  It just adds a little finished touch.   
3-Sassafras Lass Flowers.  All kinds.  All colors.  The little ones.  The big ones.  The foldies.  The paper whimsie variety.  Love 'em all!  I hope they keep making them all!   I don't know why, but I just love flowers!  :)  Even when I don't use them, I like to pull them out and just look at them!
4-Border Punches - Especially my Double Embossed Dotted Edger Punch from EK Success.  I use it all the time.  I think I go for this one most often because it adds a simple punch of fun to the design but doesn't overwhelm the pattern paper.  I also love the open scallop border punch.  Who doesn't love a good scallop, right?
5-StazOn black ink.  It's is so crisp.  And it smells so good.  What's not to love about that?! 

What is your favorite Studio Calico product and why?  Oh, gosh.  This is a hard question....  Right this second, my favorite is the new wood veneer shapes.  Especially the butterflies.  I love the color of the wood.  I love the shape.  They are fun to use on just about everything!  (but, next week - my favorite will likely be something different!)

What is your favorite go-to or signature technique? Probably sewing.  I use my sewing machine on almost everything.  If I don't, it doesn't feel "right."

Where do you find your inspiration? All over the place.  Usually it comes from an actual product itself.  A pattern paper or product will inspire me to use it in a certain way.  Aside from that, catalogs and magazines often catch my eye with a color combo or pattern.  I also love the gallery at Studio Calico. Oh and Ikea.  I come back from that place with a million ideas swirling in my head. 

What is your favorite color and/or color combo? In general, I love teal/ yellow & grey or orange/ teal & grey.  I don't really use that in scrapbooking though...  I tend to use whatever color combo strikes my fancy at the time.     

Tell us a bit about your design process. I am probably lame, but I don't think I really have one!  Sometimes I have a particular theme or an actual layout in mind,  But a lot of times, I don't.  I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants scrapper.  Inspired by the product itself, I will often pull out the product and then look through my photos to see what fits.  Then I will just play with it until I get it how I want it.  In every other area of my life, I'm a big planner.  Not sure why I'm not that way with scrapbooking. 

Tell us a bit about what else you do since we know you are creative in more ways than just scrapbooking.  As far creative things go, scrapbooking is pretty much it for me.  I do cross stitch every now and then.  I love to plan parties.  I probably get a little too involved in the planning.  (You can see the last 2 I did last on my blog - in May and June of last year.)  I enjoy planning them down to the last detail.  

Insider Tips: Nic

Hey all!  Nicole S. here with today's insider tip about misting.  My love for Mister Huey's mists has been sparked recently first by the amazing new colors that were just released... LOVE!...and second by the lightbulb moment I had about masking.  I realized I don't enjoy just haphazardly misting on my layout.  It freaks me out a bit with the randomness of it.  :)  But once I realized I can MASK off shapes and/or mist objects that are cut out and then apply them to my page... well, now I'm a mist convert!  For this page I wanted to create a circle of Lemonade mist to contain a bunch of embellishments and my title.  I could have just sprayed a piece of cardstock, then cut out a circle and adhered it to my page.  But I wanted it to be on the background page itself.  So I just traced a circle in the middle part of a scrap sheet of cardstock and cut it out. 
Then I positioned the mask on my background paper where I wanted it and sprayed away.  (I had to use some other scraps to completely cover the background edges too.)  Here's what it looked like afterwards.

Then I started designing my page and embellishing my Lemonade circle.  I used lots of bit and pieces from Into the Woods and Sunny Clearing, some older SC stamps, and Zing embossing powders.


Supplies:  Into the Woods and Sunny Clearing kits;  Mister Huey's Lemonade mist;  embossing powders:  Zing Opaque Rouge and Zing Opaque Blush; Zap Heat Tool; adhesive foam tab squares
 
Don't be afraid to try masks of all different shapes and sizes...the positive and negative parts of die cuts too.  So many fun options when it comes to masking and misting! Have fun!

Behind the Scenes Labels

Good afternoon! It's Kelly checking in from SC Headquarters in Bowling Green and looking out the window at the beautiful Foster Farm.  It's been fun for me to get a peek at even more Behind the Scenes stuff today and I wanted to share one of my favorite finds with you.

You all know that you get pretty lables on your bags each month that have been designed by Stephen.  But seeing the stack of labels, I realized that unless you're buying every single add-on and more each month, you miss out on seeing a few.  Here's one that only a few of you have gotten a peek at...

And one of my favorites I'd never seen before...

Who else looks forward to seeing the new label designs each month? I know I do.  I guess this month you'll just have to place a big big big order to get to see them all!

Cosmo Cricket designers

Our April kit, Singin' in the Rain, contained two beautiful double sided patterned papers and a sheet of labels designed just for us by Cosmo Cricket. To celebrate this collaboration, we invited three friends of Cosmo to work their magic with the main kit. These ladies did a wonderful job, and we're excited to be able to bring you a little extra inspiration this month! Each of these designers put their own spin on the kit, and we are loving what they've done with it.

First up is Wendy Sue Anderson!

Hi everyone!  I'm Wendy Sue Anderson, a member of the Cosmo Cricket design team, and I am SO excited to be sharing some of my layouts with you today!  This was my first experience working with a Studio Calico Kit.  Oh my word...why has it taken me so long?!?  I LOVED the selection of products, loved that everything coordinated (making my normal product picking process much much easier), loved the variety of types of embellishments (buttons, chipboard, twine, etc.), and this time around, I LOVED that Cosmo Cricket created some products exclusively for Studio Calico!  Cosmo and Studio make a great team! Thanks so much, Cosmo Cricket, and Studio Calico, for inviting me to join in the fun today!  :o)

You can see more of Wendy Sue's work at her blog - just me...and my little world.

Next we have expert card maker, Debbie Olsen.

Debbie Olson is a designer with a passion for teaching. WIth an background in graphic design and education, papercrafting was a natural outlet for fulfilling the creative urge on a time-budget. She has been privileged to work with many industry leaders, including several stamp companies, paper and accessory companies, and a marker company, and die company. 

In her non-papercrafting free time, she plays piano, works with stained glass, and enjoys spending time with her husband and eleven-year-old son in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

You can see more of Debbie's work at her blog - Thinking Inking.

And last but not least, Heidi Sonboul!

I think most people know by now that I LOVE scrapbooking. I started scrapbooking when I was 11 and have grown to love it more and more each year. I love color and a GOOD piece of pattern paper. I love trying all styles and I heart getting my Studio Calico kit in the mail each month :)

I had the best time working with this kit, because of it's fun colors and patterns. I loved the personality Cosmo Cricket's papers and stickers brought to the kit. I heart that green polkdot and you can see that I used every piece of it haha.

You can see more of Heidi's work at her blog - Queen of Paper.

We want to send a big THANK YOU to these fabulous designers for taking time out of their busy schedules and making these beautiful projects for us!