Studio Calico

Inspired | Nicole Samuels

One of my favorite places to go when I'm running low on creativity is my "scrap inspiration" board on Pinterest.  It's full of ads, graphic design images, craft techniques, and color palettes and often just what I need to jump start a layout.  Plus, it's fun to push myself creatively every once in a while and try something new.  That's exactly what I did on my page today.  I found this image on Pinterest and just loved it.

source

I decided to use it as a large frame on my layout.  Here's how I re-created the look with paper:

1.  Cut strips from a variety of coordinating patterned papers.  The strips should measure 1/4 inch x 7 1/2 inches.  I cut mine so that I had 4 strips of each pattern.  I used 8 different patterns (although some were just front and back patterns on the same paper).

2.  Use 4 matching strips to form a square as shown below.  Allow the edges to overlap about 1/2 inch.   Adhere the first completed square to your background paper (centered).

3.  Make more squares with the remaining strips of paper and adhere to the layout as shown below, turning each slightly as you go until you create a circle in the center of your page.

4.  Embellish the circle center with veneer and cork circles accents, a photo, and some stickers. 

Supplies:  patterned paper - Studio Calico Atlantic Atlantic City, Montauk, Bridgeport, New Haven and Scarborough; stickers - Studio Calico Atlantic 12x12 Sticker Sheet and Glittered Star Stickers; veneer - Studio Calico Atlantic Burnished Circle Wood Veneer; cork - Studio Calico Atlantic Cork Circle Stickers

Sometimes my Pinterest-inspired pages are direct interpretations of something I've pinned, like the example above.  Other times, I might be inspired by a technique I've pinned, the colors used, or a design/pattern.  There's really no wrong way to let inspiration strike.  :)  

If you haven't joined Pinterest yet or haven't used it for scrapbooking, give it a try!  Start an inspiration board of your own and start pinning things that catch your eye.  Also, be sure to follow Studio Calico on Pinterest for extra inspiration! 

weekly challenge | Sasha Farina

Sasha and Dani are here with a scrap recipe challenge! This week, we want you to use these 5 elements on your next project :

• vellum
• yellow (not all yellow.. just a little bit of yellow is fine -as long as we can see it!)
• frame (slide frame, polaroid frame, cameo cut frame - anything!)
• stars
• at least 2 tags

I loved Sasha's fun challenge and realized it would be fun to try it with the Valley High card kit from this month! This kit is a personal favorite of mine and will be revealed on the 27th - I can't wait! You can check out more sneak peeks from the kit here - you won't want to miss this one!

I used the patterned papers and the stamps in the kit. First, I created the card base, then I punched a bunch of vellum stars and glued them to the white cardstock background with Helmar's wet glue, which dries clear. It's a subtle look, but I love it! I cut some frames out of the patterned paper in the kit with some metal dies from my stash. The "hello" stamp is a speech bubble that I stamped and trimmed down. Then to create two "tags", I first used my printer to type out "sweet" and friend" onto patterned paper, stamped over the top with the the sunburst, and punched them out. To create hanging tags, simply punch two of the same shapes and glue them back to back with a piece of string or twine in between.

(Supplies : Valley High card kit, vellum, twine, star chipboard - Studio Calico, white cardstock, star punch - Fiskars,  dies - Papertrey Ink, scalloped circle punch - Martha Stewart, ink - Papertrey Ink)

Here is Sasha's take on the page - I love how she sprinkled the stars down her page! She used vellum as the background of her page, and stacked tags to make a fun layered photo frame.

(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Nantucket, South Hampton & Atlantic Vellum, SC Grid Paper ; Journal Cards : SC Atlantic ; Cork Circle Sticker : SC Atlantic; Cork Chevron : SC Atlantic; Vellum Die Cuts : SC Atlantic; Fabric Bow : SC Atlantic; Geotag Brad : SC Snippets; Staples : Tiny Attacher; Alphabets : SC Snippets Aqua Thickers, SC Front Row Project Life kit; Star die cuts, star sequins and buttons : SC Yearbook; other : buttons, enamel dots, kraft tag) 

Now it's your turn to take on this challenge!! Use our scrap recipe to create a new project, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by July 1st in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

wholesale spotlight | Atlantic

CHA-S anticipation is starting to mount (look for the reveal of our new lines in early July!), but in the meantime, our team is still working their magic with our Atlantic line :

Deb Duty - Happy Place


Nicole Reaves - Project Life week 20

Sasha Farina - Sea World '09

Anna Maria Wolniak - Summer Break

Project Life journaling prompts | Laura Kurz

I often use journaling prompts to come up with ideas for filling up my Project Life spreads with all the most-important information! I know sometimes you get stuck in a rut and feel like you are saying the same thing each month, so here are some ideas to jump-start some new journaling!

1. What are you loving right now? From clothes to recipes to the weather, what is it? I usually like to do this in a list format. (Here is an example of a page I did this on).

2. Quotes. What are some of the funny things/expressions your kids are saying right now? (Here is an example of a page I did this on using a journaling card with a speech bubble on it).

3. Highlight a few days out of the month and specific events that happened on that day. (I did this on this spread, pulling out a few key dates from the month).

4. Who did you visit with this month? Did you have playdates or meet friends for lunch?

5. Where did you travel this month? How many miles did you put on your car? Where was your favorite place you visited?

Here are two journaling cards I did to show my list of what I’m loving right now and how I highlighted some of the things my daughter is saying right now.

Supplies - patterned paper: Studio Calico Abroad Montauk; letter stickers: Roundabout Project Life Kit; fabric bows: Studio Calico Atlantic collection; vellum die cuts: Atlantic collection 

 Do you have any great journaling prompts for adding to your Project Life albums?

-Laura Kurz

weekly challenge | Marcy Penner and Nicole Harper

This week's challenge is to use a repeating pattern on your page.

From Marcy Penner : I have a hard time with circles, but the whole idea of using repeating circles on this page it emphasis the pile of stone by the culvert was just too perfect to pass up.

I started by layering my photos and papers and then found some circle elements in the Atlantic collection that could accompany circles punched from patterned paper.  Once I had a few I started layering those on in a diagonal pattern and finished it off with some stitching and sequins.

Supply list : paper - plymouth, rock port, bridgeport, montauk, atlantic bundle collection, atlantic 12x12 paper pad, atlantic 6x6 paper pad; sequins - atlantic variety sequin pack; stickers - atlantic sunrise thickets, atlantic glittered star stickers; printables - atlantic printable labels, atlantic digital printable #1 MP; tags - medium white tags; tools - tiny attacher, tiny attacher refills

From Nicole Harper : When we came up with the idea of using repetitive shapes, I was stoked to have a chance to show off my love for the die cut files this month. I resisted adding 'hello...' to every single window of this Project Life layout!! I forced myself to only use 3 of them, as well as 3 of the tab cut files and used the triangle elements on the washi tape as another graphic to repeat.

Supplies: Roundabout PL Kit, Navy Pier kit, Cumberland Gap Kit, Roundabout Printable File, Roundabout Label File, Hello banners Cut File, Roundabout Tabs Cut File, Gold POW Glitter Paper

We can't wait to see how you use repeating patterns! Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by June 17th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

Start to Finish | Gillian Nelson

Hi, guys!  It's Gillian here to share a video with you showing you how I scraplifted one of our Studio Calico members from start to finish!  One of my favorite challenges in which to participate on the message boards is the "Lift the Person Above You" challenge.  Recently, I took part in one of these challenges and got the great pleasure of lifting our very own "goldenblind221" (Jackie Rodriguez)!  Jackie has so much inspiration in her gallery, but the page I finally settled on lifting was her "Floating On Cloud Nine" layout.  (You can find this gorgeous page of hers right here:  Floating On Cloud Nine by goldenblind221.) 

Here is the page that I created, drawing inspiration from Jackie's theme and overall design:

And to see exactly how I put this together, you can check out this video:

 

Jackie, I loved being inspired by your beautiful page!  Thank you so much!

Supplies used:  patterned paper--Studio Calico Atlantic line: Atlantic City, Montauk, Portsmouth, and Bridgeport; vellum--Studio Calico Atlantic 12x12 printed vellum and More Vellum Add-On Kit; wood veneer embellishments--Studio Calico Atlantic Burnished Circle Wood Veneer; chipboard star stickers--Studio Calico Atlantic Glittered Star Stickers; vellum arrow--Studio Calico Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes; chipboard alphabets--Studio Calico Here & There Notebook Thickers,  Studio Calico Sundrifter Ombre Aqua Thickers, and Studio Calico Atlantic Rockabye Thickers; pen--Precision Pen .03 Black; adhesive--This to That Solid Glue Runner and Martha Stewart Glue Pen; ink--StazOn Ink Pad Jet Black; mist--Studio Calico Mister Huey Opaque White; sealant--Super Surface Sealer; other--cardstock, staples, permanent marker

-Gillian Nelson

seeing stars | Becky Novacek, Jenn Picard & Suzy Plantamura

From Becky Novacek :

The moment I saw the gold glitter stars I was in love. I've been so into gold lately. Love the mix of pink and gold too...so I am really fond of the Atlantic collection. 

I made a little random string of stars which I stitched over and between. It's subtle, but I like the effect.

I also used the Mister Huey's Gold and the transparent watercolor papers to fill in the month the photos were taken. 

As tempting as it is to hoard these gorgeous glitter stars, be sure to use them! 

supplies: Gold Stars - grey tags, pattern papers - Roundabout Scrapbook Kit, Outer Banks Add-on Kit, New Haven, Slide Frames- Navy Pier, Ink - Staz-On Black Ink Pad, Mister Huey's Gold, Transparent Watercolor Paper

From Jenn Picard :

The Atlantic star stickers are a great way to add a quick accent to any to any or project or perfect for making a fun focal point. For my card I combined them with some pattern paper, thickers, stamps, and of course mists.

Stars are such a classic shape and I love the colours that are offered on this sheet but for my card I decide to jazz them up a bit by adding some Mister Huey’s Mists to alter the colours a little and add some sparkle. I cut a section off of the sheet then misted the Shell and Shine Mists all over this piece being careful not to get them too wet. I then blotted up the excess with a paper towel and dried the stickers with my heat tool.

Here you can see how shimmery they are up close.

(Supplies- Stickers: Atlantic Star Stickers Stamps: Navy Pier June Add On, Paper: Atlantic South Hampton, Thickers: Atlantic Sunrise, Mists: Mister Huey’s Shell, Navy and Calico Shine, Staples: Tiny Attacher , Other: Twine: Lawn Fawn, Metallic Dots: Silver Metallic Decor (Hero Arts), Card stock: Stampin’ Up!)

From Suzy Plantamura :

My two favorite design elements to add to my project life spreads are stars and arrows. They add the perfect finishing touch and draw the eye to the photos. I used the star stickers and chipboard stickers from the Atlantic Collection to bring all my project life card inserts together making it a cohesive spread. 

I made my weekly title card using stamps from the May kits and then added different elements on top including some of the star stickers. I then added the gold chipboard stars to each photo and card insert as well. The star and anchor designs work nicely with my beach pictures that are part of this week. 

I used a piece of patterned paper from the Atlantic 6x6 paper pad that has playful circles with words on them as an insert for a 4x6 slot (cut down to fit). I then covered some of the circles with vellum circles from the die cut set and added stars on top.

I like having a theme for the embellishments I use on each of my spreads to tie it all together. The star stickers added just the perfect touch to finish off my week!

(supplies: patterned paper - Atlantic 6x6 paper pad; stickers - Atlantic star stickers, Atlantic glittered star stickers , Atlantic cork arrow and chevron stickers ; sequins: Atlantic variety sequin pack ; chipboard letters: Atlantic Rockabye thickers; Atlantic Sunrise thickers; die-cuts: Atlantic vellum die-cut shapes; project life cards: Planetarium project life kit; stamps: Planetarium project life kit; brads: Atlantic epoxy brads ; staples: Tiny Attacher ; corner rounding punch: Corner Chomper ; other: digital printable files)

Now that you've seen how our team is using stars, we'd love to see YOUR star studded projects! Link us up in the comments.

weekly challenge | Susan Weinroth & Ashley Cannon Newell

Take out your punches, dies, and cut files because this week is all about using those negative cuts on your projects. You can get so much more out of your punched or cut shapes by using the negative shapes as well, so don't throw those away. Even better - how about you purposefully cut shapes just to use those negative designs. Susan and Ashley have teamed up to take on this challenge.

From Ashley :  I wanted to create a focal backdrop on my card that used a negative shaped images, so I picked my current favorite punch - the mini anchor and punched a few patterned paper strips. I layered the punched paper over contrasting patterned paper. To complete the design, I added the vellum die cut shape and some hemp cord as a border for the patterned paper lines.

Tip: To punch an even anchor design, the first punched image should rest against the punch as you punch the next anchor. Also, save those punched anchor shapes for your next project!

(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Montauk, Portsmouth, Seabrook, Nantucket, South Hampton; cardstock : Studio Calico white; punch : Studio Calico mini anchor punch ; vellum : Studio Calico Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes; hemp cord : Coconut Grove kit)

From Susan : I used the negative of my arrow cut as a foundation for my title.  I added a circle cut around the arrow, and was left with the arrow cut into the circle.  I backed it first with Vellum and then with lime green cardstock (which muted the color).  Then I machine stitched around the edge to finish off the look, before adding title stickers.

(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Atlantic City, Atlantic Montauk, Atlantic Plymouth, Atlantic Vellum; embellishments: Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes; Staples: Tiny Attacher ; other : sequins)

Let's see how you use those negative shapes! Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by June 17th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

wholesale spotlight

Here's a peek at what our Creative Team has been making with the Atlantic Collection! Click on the name of any project & you'll be taken to it in our gallery. From there you can check out the supply list, find more details on how it was made, and even add it to your favorites!

Allison Waken - Balboa :

Amanda Caves - End of 2013 Vol 1 :

Anna-Maria Wolniak - Mom :

from layout to card | Joy Taylor

Hi there, Joy here sharing a card inspired by a layout...

I chose to search through this months kits layouts, boy it was hard to narrow down, the creative layout team has some awesome creations this month and so it took me quite some time to narrow it down, but there was one that I seem to keep coming back to and that was this one you see below of Sasha's..


My eye was really caught on how she collaged all those fun embellishments to the centre of her project and then the addition of the scatters of hearts..



The starting point to creating my card was what I saw on Sasha's layout, that being the Slide Frames that she had chosen to use as a central focus point, so I decided a fun Journal Card as my focus point, from there I built up my embellishments like Sasha had on her layout.

By adding the layers of Cork Stickers, Vellum Die Cuts, Anchor Die Cut from Patterned Paper and Gold Star Stickers and finishing the card by adding Thickers to create a sentiment.

Here are a couple of close up photos of my card.

(supplies - Studio Calico Atlantic 6 x 6 Paper Pad, Vellum Die Cut Shapes, Glittered Star Stickers, Rockabye Thickers, Cork Arrow and Chevron Stickers, Cork Circle Stickers

Love that choosing inspiration from a layout can still be maintained on a smaller scale to a card, I hope you will all try this out.

Have a great day! - Joy Taylor