Studio Calico

Bright Idea | Celeste Vermeend

Sometimes when I am lacking inspiration I can find my mojo in unusual places. Occasionally it is magazines etc - but I also like perusing the card designers here at Studio Calico. The detail and also the simplicity of a card can jog my inspiration. Take this lovely card from Joy Taylor (also a fellow Aussie!) from her May card kit gallery:

I was instantly drawn to the sweet layered love heart combined with the more masculine map paper. So I began from there.

I started by layering a star and adding a button to the centre in a similar way to Joy's heart.

I also added the map paper just like Joy in a layer along the bottom and the layout continued to flow from there. A layout is on a much larger scale to that of a card - so obviously I have added a lot more detail including stamping and extra stars and patterned paper. So although the finished layout doesn't really resemble Joy's original card - it was the initial inspiration that got my creativity flowing:

 

Products:

Orion addon kit , Lyra addon kit Planetarium scrapbook kit Big Dipper addon kit

-Celeste Vermeend

wholesale spotlight

Here's a peek at how our Creative Team has been using our Here+There, Snippets and Sundrifter lines :

Marcy Penner - Piggyback : 

Lisa Spangler - Hello : 

Celeste Vermeend - Love You More :

Susan Weinroth - Be Happy :

product spotlight

This month, we challenged three members of our Creative Team to take on the same product. Check out how Celeste, Nicole and Gayatri used the vellum die cut frames : 

From Celeste Vermeend  :

I really love the vellum die cut frames in the Snippets range. They are lovely bright colours and they suit my style.  I think that the vellum makes them very-user-friendly as well. You can layer them over other products and even you photos. I felt the size of the frames lent themselves very well to smalller photos and as I love to doodle - I used a slick permanant pen and ruled arrows on one of the frames as well.

You also get lots of designs to choose from in each packet.I chose three different frames to use on the layout incorporating hearts and stars to go with my theme. I laid them out with my photo and moved them around a fair amount before I was satisfied with their placement.I simply used a glue runner along the bottom and bigger edge of each of the frames and that allowed me the freedom of sliding and placing embellishments around and under them.

My third frame got mostly covered in the process of adding details! But you can still see the frame edge and I like the white space it creates inside it. During the messy process of creating my background with Mr Huey's mists and paint - I also found that the vellum frames take these products as well. It's what comes of placing your frames down before the background is completely dry!

Supplies: Snippets vellum die cut frames, here and there epoxy brads, sundrifter seafoam PP, Snippet Hey PP, Snippets chipboard stars, Snap stickers, Neverland kit, Front Row digital cut file,  Mr Huey's letter jacket, Mr Huey's desert

From Gayatri Murali :

This is Gayatri Murali here. I am going to use the same die cut vellum frame on my card.  When I opened the package, the frames are so colourful with a gorgeous ombre effect to it. I wish I could use all the frame at once on my card. After much delibration, I decided I wanted to take one frame and make it the focal point on my card. To do that I also chose a graphic style card.

I took a portrait orientation of the card base, sprayed Powder Blue Huey Mist on it. I then placed the gorgeous ombre frame on the bottom left corner of the card front.I have used Snippets Chipboard Arrows and Pattern Paper to add detail to the frame. They also help to hold the frame to the card front.  For the sentiment, I used Snippets Miss You stamp set. Love how the sentiment is beautifully framed by the vellum frame and the powder blue spray highlights the frame. A clean, simple graphic card. 

Supplies - Pattern Paper: Studio Calico's Snippets 6 x 6 Paper Pad. Snippets: Chipboard Arrows, Snippets Miss You Stamp Set. Sundrifter Vellum Die Cut Frames. Studio Calico's Powder Blue Huey Mist. Cardstock: Stampers Select White papertrey Ink. Archival Jet Black Ink

From Nicole Reaves : 

I love the new vellum die cut frames from the Sundrifter line. They have a really nice semi-transparent feel and this small scale product is perfect for us Project Lifers. This spread, which I made as an insert for Week 8, is about a simple date weekend my husband and I had (our first overnight away from our kids!) while they got to spend time with Grandma.

I used the frames a few different ways - as a journaling box:

to highlight a particular portion of a photo:

and as a slot for some memorabilia, our hotel key.

supplies : patterned paper - Sundrifter 6x6 pad, Sundrifter Beautiful ; journaling card - March Neverland Project Life kit, Sundrifter Journal Card ; stickers - Sundrifter Tiny Brown alpha, Sundrifter 12x12 sticker sheet ; diecuts - Sundrifter die cut shapes, Sundrifter vellum die cut frames ; enamel dots - Roller Rink Card kit ; date stamp - Calico V.3 roller date stamp ; ink - Versafine Onyx Black ; pen - Micron .03 , white Sharpie poster paint pen ; other - file tab punch, arrow clip

How have you used the vellum frames? Link up your projects in the comments - we'd love to see!

weekly challenge

Hey everyone! Our challenge for you this week is to pose a question, perhaps to yourself or a family member, and document it. We are always asking ourselves inner questions, maybe scrapping them will yield some answers.

Celeste says :

Sit back and think about the things running through your head lately. We are always asking ourselves inner questions, maybe scrapping them will yield some answers?

And then again some questions are not internal they can relate to family, anything at all really.  Just lately, we have been mulling over which high school our eldest daughter should attend. A tough questions - and one we have been asking ourselves alot over the past few months. I snapped this iphone photo of my daughter after school on impulse and when I printed it I suddenly felt the need to document this curly school question.

(supplies - Block Party Kit, Pioneer Drive, Pollard Ave, January Printables, Mr Huey's in Bonny Blue)

Nicole says :

The last page in a Project Life album can be tough one to fill. In the layout above, I decided to close out her 2012 album by asking myself, my husband, and each of my children what their favorite memory of the past year was. After including a picture of each person, the result turned out to be a fun and simple way to reflect on the year while getting the rest of the family involved, even the youngest members.

 

 (supplies : patterned paper - Block Party Card Kit ; stamps - Day by Day class stamp set ; letter stickers - Block Party Project Life Kit ; star stickers - Block Party Project Life Kit ; printables - Block Party printable #2 ; speech bubble diecut - Day by Day class ; arrow diecut - Block Party Digital Stamps ; chevron diecut - Block Party Crooked Chevron Cut Design ; staples - Tiny Attacher ; twine - Block Party Card Kit ; pens - American Craft Precision Pens)

Nicole and Celeste can't wait to see what you do withthis challenge!! Create a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by January 21st in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.