Studio Calico

weekly challenge | Gayatri Murali & Gillian Nelson

This week, Gayatri and Gillian are teaming up to challenge you to break out your watercolors and use them in your paper crafting!

From Gillian Nelson : While I've always considered myself a "crafty" person, I am not confident whatsoever with the "artsy" stuff.  Drawing, painting...stuff like that.  I'm so much more comfortable with paper and scissors than I am with paper and paintbrushes.  But I looooove the look of watercolors and how it's been making such a beautiful splash in the world of scrapbooking.  I wanted to experiment with using water colors on a layout, but I wasn't willing to ruin an entire sheet of paper by painting directly on the background.  The compromise I came up with was to paint smaller portions of paper that I would then add to my layout afterwards.  I started by cutting watercolor paper into strips that were 1.75 inches wide, and then hand cut triangles from the strips.  I painted each individual triangle with a wash of color (most of them pink, with a few yellow triangles thrown in for visual interest).  Once the paint dried, I outlined each triangle with a thin black line and also inked the edges.  Then I adhered the triangles onto another block of watercolor paper, so that the painted color could really pop against more white.  I used adhesive foam under the yellow triangles for more...say it with me...visual interest.

Then I layered the remaining patterned papers, found places to live for the assorted embellishments, and stuck the photo up there at the top.  Done!  

(Supplies -- patterned papers, acetate diecuts: Roundabout Scrapbook Kit; gold washi tape, "enjoy" banner sticker, gold triangle sequins: Coconut Grove Add-On Kit; letter stickers: Outer Banks Add-On Kit; Studio Calico Hello Today Banner; pen: Precision Pen 0.3-Black; ink: StazOn Ink Pad-Jet Black; foam adhesive: This to That Foam Tab Squares; glue: Martha Stewart Glue Pen; other: sequins, staples)

The watercolors were truly a lot of fun, and while I'm not brave enough yet to paint myself a background like some of the gals on our SC team are so adept at doing, I'm really happy with how my watercolor baby steps turned out.  :)

From Gayatri :  Watercolour background is currently trendy. I love the soft blend of colour using the water colours. They make great background and easy to stamp on it. For my project which is a card, I have decided to use this technique both in the background as free flowing colours as well as in a defined space. 

I have used two water colour techniques on this card. For the background, I have used dry on wet technique. I diluted few drops of each of the neon Mr. Huey on an acrylic block and brushed each colour from the top of the card front using a rounded brush. I let it dry. Then I brushed some water on the pink layer and added few drops of pink neon Mr. Huey and let the colour spread and dry on its own.Then I did the same with the yellow followed by the orange. You can see how the colours have blended and beautifully flowed as well. This adds layer of colours.

While the card front is drying, I masked and stamped the balloons from Coconut Grove June Add-On Card Kit stamp set. There is well defined space in each of the balloons to paint the colours. For this I used wet on wet technique here. For each of the balloon, I first wet the area and while still wet, I added colours from one end to give the gradation of colours. I let it dry on its own. This give beautiful shading to the balloons.

While the balloons are drying, I stamped the large sentiment also from the Coconut Grove June Add-on Card kit stamp set on the bottom of the card front. I then cut of the balloons and adhere them to the card front using foam adhesive. 

The neon colours are intense and bright which is perfect for birthday celebrations.

(Supplies: Mister Huey's Neon My Little Pony, Trapper Keeper & Windbreak, Seafoam and Ocean; Coconut Grove June Add-on Card Kit; Archival Jet Black Ink and Stampers Select White from Papertrey Ink; watercolour brush)

We can't wait to see you give watercolors a try!! Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by June 3rd in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

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!

Sunday Sketch

This week we are once again offering you TWO sketches...one for cards and one for layouts!! The card sketch is from Gayatri Murali's Neverland gallery:



And the layout sketch is from Celine Navarro's Neverland Gallery:


We invited member Dani (danidonner) to choose one of these to use as a starting point this week, and were thrilled with what she came up with!! Check out the fun details on her layout...



Supplies: Front Row kit (main only); Jenni Bowlin inkpad (Weather Vane)

Here is what Dani had to say about her process: I have to admit I'm a sucker for banners. They are cheerful, give movement to the page and make a great eye catcher. To transform the card sketch into a page, I substitute the buttons for pictures and used the ribbon and the washi tape in the Front Row kit to create my banner. Took a quick look into my flair collection and picked the ones that would go better with the kit's color combo. For the title, I used my Clover Mr. Huey and the alpha from the kit. A quick and fun page, all thanks to an amazing sketch! I would like to thank Studio Calico for the opportunity and for all the inspiration delivered, through it's designers, through this blog, through the galleries and our doorsteps. :)

It's always fun to see our members think outside the box when using a card sketch as a stepping off point for a layout...we LOVE the contrast of the circles against the chevron and bold feel of color here! Thanks for joining us this week, Dani!! You can see more inspiration from Dani in her SC Gallery and on her blog. She is also active on Twitter: @danidonner

How will YOU use this sketch? Whether it's a layout, a card or something else, link us up to your project by March 18th for a chance to win a $5 gift card to the Studio Calico shop. (Please remember, your project must be loaded into our gallery to qualify...and your comment has to link back to it in the SC Gallery)

creative team inspiration

Our Creative Team has been busy working with Here+There, Snippets and Sundrifter. We've got five projects to share today, and we'll be back every Thursday with even more wholesale inspiration. Click on the name of any layout to view it in the SC member gallery - from there you'll be able to check out what products they used and how they made it, as well as add it to your favorites.

Up - Marcy Penner

Merci - Lucy Abrams

Love Them - Gillian Nelson

Thinking of You - Gayatri Murali

Best Friends - Anna-Maria Wolniak

from layout to card

Hey guys, Gayatri here today.  What a great release this month! Love all the inspirations from the design team galleries. Amazing work from talented crafters

Today, I am sharing with you a card I made using a layout from one of our Scrapbook Creative Team Members as a jumping point for your card. I was going through all the layouts and in fact saved most of them on my computer. They all gave me ideas. But this layout by Sasha Farina is just awesome and caught my eye as soon as I saw it. It is Sasha's "do art" layout. Thank you Sasha!

I really love the sketch of this layout and I drew it out for you. Here is the sketch.

I have made the photo and the sentiment panels from the layout into one panel and shifted it to the left side of the sketch. I have not added any embellishments to the sketch because I like simple sketches. This also gives you the freedom to add embellishments where it suits your card. Here is my card using the sketch from the layout.

(Supplies : Woodbrooke Road Add On Kit and Wildberry Court Add On Kit for enamel dot)

I have used Woodrooke Road Add On kit to make my card. I opened the kit and spread it on my table. I wanted a very colorful card. The pockets jumped out to me. So I picked the pink pocket. I choose and cut out papers and embellishments to coordinate the pocket from the WoodBrooke Road add on kit. Since the papers and embellishments are colourful, the sentiment has to be bold. The black alpha stickers are perfect to create the sentiment. The red enamel dot is from Wildberry Court Add On Kit.  I really love the bright colours on my card.

Hope you enjoyed my process of using a layout to make a card. If you create a project using this as your inspiration, please upload into the Studio Calico Gallery. I really love to see how you interpret a layout or even my sketch from Sasha's layout.

Happy New Year everybody! Hugs! -Gayatri