Studio Calico

you've got mail | Dawn McVey

Hi there!  Dawn McVey here with another installment of You've Got Mail here at Studio Calico, where we show you a card and coordinating envelope!  You may have seen this card in my Roundabout gallery.....I had so much fun making this card because of all those gorgeous green and aqua patterned papers in the kit!  

 

Any time there are a lot of patterned papers I'd like to showcase, I tend to use a layout similar to this one, where I can incorporate several strips of papers one way or another.

I always vary the widths of the strips to keep things balanced and interesting.  (And of course, my favorite patterns are always the widest strips!)

I also kept the large green space open at the top, so that it would really allow my die-cut sentiment to shine!  By using a lighter colored paper for the die-cut, it really pops on the darker green background!

(supplies - Roundabout Card Kit ; Outer Banks Add-on Kit ; Coconut Grove Add-on Kit ; Wine Bottle Tag Die : Papertrey Ink)

I kept a few of those same principles in mind when I decorated the outside of my envelope.  Again, a large green space to provides a lot of color impact and will serve as the perfect place to address the envelope.  But I also got some pattern worked in, by again using small strips.  I used a wine bottle tag die to cut out the green paper, and then trimmed the sides down a bit to fit the envelope a little better.  Such a simple way to dress up the outside of an envelope, and it perfectly coordinates with the card at the same time.  

If you plan to put an envelope like this in the mail, be sure to really secure all of the papers with plenty of adhesive.  You don't want anything coming off in the mail!

Hope you've enjoyed this installment of You've Got Mail! Have a great day, Friends!

- Dawn McVey

 

start to finish with Atlantic | Dawn McVey

Hi All,

 

Dawn McVey here to share a little video with you showing start to finish how I whipped up a card using some of the new Atlantic collection goodies!  

 

Enjoy!

 

(supplies - Studio Calico Atlantic Rockport, Scarborough Portsmouth patterned paper; fabric bows; cork circle stickers; vellum die cut shapes;  variety sequin pack; mini anchor punch; other - Tiny Attacher; twine - Papertrey Ink) 

wholesale spotlight

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

Geralyn Sy - Misibis Handbook

Nicole Harper - #Happy

Dawn McVey - Thanks

Natalia Bun - it is what it is

Becky Novacek - love you sweet boy

product spotlight - speech bubble mask

This month, we asked three of our designers to show you how they'd use the Snippets speech bubble mask - here's what they made :

Tina Aszmus - I love that we chose to use the new Snippets large speech bubble mask for our product spotlight. I love the large scale of the mask and wanted to do something different with it. I recently found some old watercolor crayons and did a bit of experimenting. I loved the colorful results. They incredibly easy to use. I held the mask down on a sheet of watercolor paper, traced the inside of the bubbles with the crayon. After blending a few colors within each bubble, I swiped it with watercolor brush until I achieved the look as I was after. 

I let the paper dry overnight, then added in my photo, journaling + a few other elements. I liked that I worked outside my comfort zone and tried something new. I hope this inspires you to try something new!

Supplies: Snippets speech bubble mask, Lyra watercolors, watercolor paper + flat brush, Knot & Bow twine, Micron pen, Sundrifter Beautiful paper, Sundrifter Pocahontas, Sundrifter die-cuts, white tags, Sundrifter Love This rubber stamps, Versamark onyx ink pad.

Dawn McVey - I have to say that this was a really fun assignment, as I haven't really used many masks in the past.  It was fun to put this one to use, to create a background for my card and all it took was some white card stock, the mask and some Mister Huey's mists!  I chose colors that I thought would work well with the patterned paper butterfly I created, and sprayed them in order of color from lightest at the bottom to darkest up top.  

I also LOVE that I was able to stamp my sentiment directly on the wood veneer speech bubble, as well as punch a hole through it so I could attach the brad!

(supplies : patterned paper - Studio Calico Snippets Anywho & Hmmm ; veneer - Snippets Speech Bubbles & Punctuation ; stamps - Snippets Months stamp set ; mask - Snippets 12x12 Speech Bubble Mask ; mists - Mister Huey's Boss Lady, Cameo, Lucille & Plum Thumb ; brads - Snippets epoxy brads ; gems - Darling Dear brights gems ; Papertrey Ink white card stock, dark chocolate ink & Beautiful Butterflies dies

Catherine Davis - The Snippets Speech Bubble mask has so many possibilities! As I worked on my Project Life spread, a photo of my daughters' glittery shoes gave me an idea on how to use my mask. Glitter! 

For the "amazing" card, I trimmed a Snippets Handbook Album Insert to 4x6 and placed the mask over it. Using a paint brush, I added regular craft glue in the speech bubble. After gently pulling the mask up, I sprinkled silver glitter and let it dry. Love it! 

For the glittery outline on the 3x4 card, I ran my Martha Stewart Glue Pen along the inside of one of the speech bubbles on the mask, pulled it up and added glitter. So easy! I also want to try using the mask by outlining the speech bubbles in ink to create a pattern, plus painting/misting it.

(supplies: mask - Studio Calico Snippets Speech Bubble Mask; patterned paper - Studio Calico Snippets Me OH My, Hey & Stop ; Studio Calico Snippets Handbook Album Inserts; Studio Calico Snippets Adhesive Badges; Martha Stewart Glue Pen)

How have you used the Snippets Speech Bubble Mask? Link us up in the comments - we'd love to see!

darling dear

With our CHA releases coming to the shop soon, we wanted to share a bit more Darling Dear inspiration from our Creative Team.


patterned paper - Darling Dear Wayne, Hepburn vellum, 6x6 paper pad ; chipboard - Darling Dear Printed Chipboard Speech Bubbles  ; veneer - Darling Dear Triangles and Diamonds wood veneer ; gems - Darling Dear Opaque Brights ; alpha - Darling Dear Navy 6x7 alpha stickers ; stamp - Calico V.3 roller date stamp ; ink - Versafine Onyx Black

(Supplies - Patterned Papers : Darling Dear - Sinatra & Gable ; Stickers : Hearts & Arrows, Vellum Shapes ; Tiny Alpha - Charcoal : Tiny attacher)

(supplies : darling dear badges, darling dear crawford, darling dear hepburn, darling dear garland)

patterned paper - Darling Dear Crawford, Sinatra, Flynn, Taylor; veneer - Darling Dear Wood Veneer Alphabet; gems - Darling Dear Opaque Gems - White

(Supplies - Patterned Papers : Darling Dear - Wayne, Gable ; Tiny Alpha - Charcoal ; Stickers - Hearts & Arrows ; Chipboard - Hearts ; Gems - Greys & Whites )

workspace wednesday

Hello there!  Dawn McVey here!  I'm happy to get to share my studio with you today!  I cleaned up just for you!!  Haha....I always say having company is the best motivation to clean things up and so, dear friends, I've tidied things up a bit and I'm happy to welcome you to my studio...

This is my desk.  It's actually an antique library table, but I love it for how deep it is.  It allows me to have a shelving unit (salvaged from an old computer desk) on the back side of the desk so all of my card stock is close at hand, while still allowing me tons of desk space on which to work.

I have a vintage baking tin holding washi tape at the moment, though as you can see, it's about time to come up with a new plan for my every growing washi collection.  :)

I use vintage style penny candy jars to store rolls of felt on the top shelf.  The jars are from Wal-mart and were somewhere in the $5 range.  You'll see as we work our way around my room, that I really like to have all of those gorgeous colorful supplies out where I can see them!  It makes for a much prettier room to work in and I find being able to look at my supplies to be very inspiring.

We were at Paper Source one day and I fell in love with some shelving units they had on the wall, holding stacks of ribbon just like this one.  Sooo, I asked my sweet hubby if he could make me a custom unit to store my Papertrey ribbon collection, and he did!  We designed it to fit on the wall, in the space between the two windows in the studio.  This also just happens to be immediately to the left of where I sit at my desk, so everything on these shelves, is also easily accessible from my chair.

In the little file cabinet that sits right behind my chair, my laptop sits on top and in the top drawer, I store all of my Papertrey dies.  They're kept in CD sleeves and labeled by collection or individual die.  These are also easy to flip thru right from my desk chair.

On the wall opposite my desk wall, I have two bookshelves (purchased years ago at Target) that house cards, Studio Calico wholesale goodies, Studio Calico kits and even my yarn stash.

I use a vintage drawer to hold my Mister Huey's spray mists.  Goodness, I love those little guys.  They look so cute all lined up in rows!

On the wall as you walk into the studio, I have a couple more file cabinets.  On top is my Vagabond (die-cutting machine) and printer.  On the wall above, are shelves filled with my Papertrey Ink stamps (the stacks of CD cases) and other miscellaneous items.  As I make cards for each month's release at Papertrey and at Studio Calico, I line the cards up on the shelves.  That way, I can enjoy them for a couple weeks before it's time to take them down and start the process all over again.  ;)

The framed magazine covers on the top shelf are ones that I've been blessed to have a card on the cover.

To the left of that wall, brings us back to my desk wall.  This is a second desk in the room (it sits just to the right of my library table desk) and basically serves as my sewing station.  The cubby unit above the desk is from Pottery Barn and houses my mini canning jars filled with Papertrey buttons.  The jars are also from Wal-mart and come 4 in a box (found in the canning supplies section) for about $4.

I hope you've enjoyed this little studio tour!  Pop in again any time.  :)

stamps

Our CHA-S release stamps have made it to the Studio Calico shop!We know you've been waiting patiently for these, and will want to ink them up the second you get them. Here's a little inspiration to get you started!

 

(spread joy by Lisa Spangler - featuring the Spread Joy stamp set : veneer trees - Studio Calico; ink - Hero Arts Ruby Dye Ink & Green Hills mid-tone ink, Evergreen Bough Distress ink, Colorbox white pigment ink; notecard - Hero Arts; embossing folder - Hero Arts/ Sizzix; twine - Lawn Fawn; other - Rock Candy Distress Stickles)

(happy holidays by Dawn McVey - featuring the Spread Joy stamp set : veneer - Wonderland snowflakes; patterned paper - Wonderland Toboggan, Alpine, Ice Caps;

(Junkstock by Lisa Truesdell - featuring Oh Snap and Sam stamp sets : patterned paper - Studio Calico Wonderland Toboggan; Darling Dear Flynn, Temple, Monroe, Hepburn Vellum; feather veneer - Sock Hop kit, ledger washi - Roller Rink kit; thickers - Charcoal Sotheby's; star sequin - Yearbook Ephemera; chipboard heart - Darling Dear Printed Chipboard Hearts ; arrows - Darling Dear Heart & Arrow Stickers, Vellum Shapes; ink - Hero Arts Wet Cement, Black StazOn; tiny attacher)

(Back to School by Kelly Noel - featuring the Back to School stamp set : cardstock - American Crafts; patterned paper - SC Darling Dear Flynn, SC Darling Dear Monroe; stickers - SC Darling Dear Hearts & Arrows;  ink - Prima Chalk Edger; diecuts - SC Yearbook Ephemera Pack; badge - SC Darling Dear Badges)

(Love Jason and Lisa by Lisa Spangler - featuring the Cal & Spread Joy stamp sets : mist - Mister Huey's Calico White; ink - Hero Arts Neon Pink, Neon Green, Soft Granite and Tide Pool; Colorbox white pigment ink; gems - Hero Arts; washi - Heidi Swapp & etsy; other - gray cardstock and corner rounder punch)

We're excited to see what all of you make with these stamps!

dawn's challenge

Hi there!!  It's Dawn McVey here, and today just happens to be World Card Making Day, so of course, we've got a fun card making challenge for you!!  This one's simple, so everyone should be able to play along!  All you have to do is whip up a card using two layers of wood veneer, stacked up on top of each other.  I did this on these two cards, by stacking leaves on leaves as well as leaves on a scalloped circle.  Oh, and here's a tip, if you've got a bottle of Glossy Accents, this works great for adhering the wood veneer to your project and to each other!

supplies - Calico Vol. 3 wood veneer circles, Yearbook wood veneer school icons, Mister Huey's honor society, Mister Huey's letter jacket, Glossy Accents, Calico Vol. 3 Oh Snap stamp set, Yearbook 6x6 paper pad, Calico Vol. 3 6x6 paper pad

You can mist the veneer with colors, leave them plain or whatever else you can dream up!  Just stack 'em up on a card and show us what you came up with!!  We can't wait to see! Happy World Card Making Day!

To be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop, just complete a card based on Dawn's challenge, then upload it to the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by October 15th in the comments here. We can't wait to see what you make!

from start to finish with dawn mcvey

Hi there!  Dawn McVey here with a start-to-finish card for you today!  I pulled out lots of new Classic Calico Vol. 3 goodies to put this little love note for my hubby together. If you want to take this tutorial on the go with you, click here to download the PDF.

To get started, I adhered 3 patterned papers to a cream card base; one large panel and two narrow strips along the bottom.

Next, I used a decorative edged die to die cut the top edge of a Journal Card.

Then I used a couple Copic Markers to color in the letters, overlapping the colors, just like the letters overlap on the card.

I pulled out the coffee ring stamp from the Back To School stamp set (Yearbook collection) and stamped it using a kraft colored ink.....a perfect creamy coffee color!  ;)

Lastly, I stamped the "Love you more" sentiment from the Oh Snap stamp set twice -- once on a wood veneer flag, and again directly on the Journal Card.  This way, I could layer the banner right over the top of the sentiment on the Journal Card, creating a bit more dimension on the sentiment.  Before moving on, I heat set all of the stamping with a heat tool, to avoid smearing on the slick Journal Card surface.

(supplies : patterned paper - Studio Calico Classic Calico Vol. 3 6x6 paper pad ; Classic Calico Vol. 3 Journal Cards ; Classic Calico Vol. 3 Badges ; Classic Calico Vol. 3 Wood Veneer Flags ; Classic Calico Vol. 3 Oh Snap stamp set ; Yearbook Back to School stamp set ; other - Papertrey Ink Edgers #3 die, rustic jute button twine, kraft ink & dark chocolate ink ; Copic markers)

All that was left to do, was to put it all together....there's a bit of twine tied around the bottom of the card, and the Journal Card was adhered with foam adhesive.  The finishing touch was the addition of the "Today" badge!

I hope you've enjoyed today's card and are inspired to get a little crafty yourself!

sunday sketch

It's time for a new sketch! This week we're shaking things up with a card sketch. It comes from Dawn McVey's Summer of '69 gallery - you can see her beautiful card here.

While this sketch is obviously a fabulous starting point for your next card, we asked SC member Jen Kinkade to take on the challenge of turning it into a layout. Here's what she made :

(supplies : Studio Calico kits - Summer of '69, So Cal and Santa Monica add-on, City of Lights and Montmartre add-on, & Daydream Believer ; other - Mister Huey in Shine and White, Silhouette Cameo, StazOn jet black ink, date stamp, machine sewing)

I must confess that I used A LOT of elements from different SC kits to pull this layout together!! ;) I was immediately drawn to the layering Dawn used on her card. I love layering! Then I was drawn to how "girly" it looked. Even though I have 3 daughters I rarely do a "girly" layout that would use lots of pinks or feminine elements. So I challenged myself to be girly and used this recent photo I had taken of my 3 girls. ;)

I think Jen does girly pretty well, don't you? I love her layers here, the doilies and floral embellishments compliment her beautiful black and white photo so well! I am also amazed that she mixed so many kits. This is an awesome way to use up all your leftovers - just combine them into a whole new kit! Thanks for letting us share your work this week, Jen! If you'd like to see more from Jen, check our her Studio Calico gallery or her blog.

Now it's YOUR turn to show us how you'll use the sketch. Whether it's a layout , a card or something else, link us up to your project by September 3rd for a chance to win a $5 gift card to the Studio Calico shop.