Studio Calico

Kimberly's Tutorial

I often have people ask me how I get such a sparkle in my subject's eyes. Sometimes the sparkle is there naturally with the right lighting, but then there are those times where I need to apply a little help. I do all my editing in Adobe Photoshop CS3, but this trick can be done in any of the Photoshop 7 and higher programs.
 
First select a photograph that you would like to use:
 
Then you will want to select your lasso tool:
 
Once you have selected the Lasso, you will want to zoom in on one of the eyes nice and tight with your navigational bar here. You will see a box on the top next to the word "Feather" that will probably be empty if you haven't used this before. I generally use 10 with mine when I am working with eyes, so it isn't too sharp around the edges.

Now you are ready to trace around the eye with the lasso tool:

Then you will want to select the filter button and scroll down and select the sharpen, and then unsharpen mask. Another window will open up on top with 3 boxes. When I am using the unsharp mask for eyes, I have mine set to Amount: 135 the Radius at 4 and the threshold at 3. Feel free to play around with this to get the desired results you would like. I always have the preview button checked as well, so I can see the difference right away before hitting the "OK" button. Once you have the sharpening how you would like it, click "OK".

Now you have one eye done and use your navigational bar again to do the next eye.

The entire process takes me about 5 minutes to do. Once you have it set up, it will take you no time at all to do. Here is the final photograph:

Have fun... and I hope this little tutorial helps produce some more sparkle to your photographs too!

Who's Who Spotlight

I'm excited to be sharing a new feature on the blog with you today. I was asked to create a new layout using scraps from the January Who's Who kit and tell you a little about why I loved working with it so much. In all honesty, I wasn't in love with the kit when I first saw it, even when I got the box, I wasn't blown away. But I'd had the foresight to order the SC Paper add on because I knew I had to use both sides of the exclusive papers.

How happy I was that I ordered extra because the exclusives in this kit were the reason I ended up loving every layout I made. The papers and the main bookshelf stamp just worked for me this month. Everything I did with them seemed to be magic. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. I think the tree paper called "Woods" ended up being my favorite part of the kit, it's been so fun to cut it up and embellish the little hearts on the trees, it's a great neutral, but it's different. I had originally planned a two pager for this layout, but couldn't bear to use my last two pieces of "Woods" so I reworked my design. Now I have one last sheet to savor.

I thought that Who's Who is the perfect balance of embellishments to paper, a hard thing to achieve. I felt like I had plenty to work with. And the colors ended up being a beautiful mix to make this one of my all time favorite kits. An unusual thing for me, as I typically lean toward brighter colors. I'm not sure why, but I didn't miss them this month!

The layout I created features the "Woods" paper, I used my butterfly punch to turn the background into a forest filled with butterflies. I love how flexible the paper is, and the butterflies are made with other papers from the main kit, plus one from the Betty Crocker kit (now that's the kit with bright and rich colors I normally gravitate toward!). I used the packaging from the My Minds' Eye ribbon to anchor my title work, and if the look carefully, there are the words, "Ladies' Hand" written on the tag, I love the hidden meaning in that when you take into account the photo and journaling.
Supplies: Paper -Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Sassafras, Cosmo Cricket; Ribbon and tag - My Minds' Eye; letter stickers - Basic Grey; Adhesive - American Crafts foam tab circles and squares, Scotch Quick Dry liquid adhesive, and Coats & Clark thread; pen - Martha Stewart

Waleska put together one more awesome layout using the kit and other SC products.  Take a look:
Supplies: Kit - Who's Who; Patterned Paper - Studio Calico Elementary Die Cut Blue, Library; Rubons- Studio Calico Patterns Green; Stamps - Studio Calico Jett Alpha, Polaroid; Ink - JBS Stick Candy, JBS Seed Packet, Pumice Stone Distress;  Stickers - Home Front Alphabet Stickers; Wood Veneers - Stars

The exclusive book stamp perfectly matches the paper from Elementary!

Kimberly also created a new layout mixing the Who's Who kit mixed in with some of the Elementary line.  These two work really well together!
Supplies: Patterned Paper - Studio Calico Elementary: Pink Die cut, January Main kit; October Afternoon: Animal Tracks, Basic Grey: Pinking Sheers, My Minds Eye: Cheerful, My Minds Eye: You and me buttons. From Mary Jane Add on: Ki Memories: Hot Strips. Studio Calico Elementary: Cardstock Stickers. Studio Calico: Notions. Jenni Bowlin: Chewing Gum ink

I hope you had as much fun creating with the January Studio Calico kit! Enjoy!

Kimberly's Ink Storage

Hi everyone, Kimberly here to share with you all how I store my ink pads.  One of the main things that I find very important with organizing is labeling EVERYTHING! I tend to really love baskets of all kinds and I use them different ways. Since I do a LOT of stamping, I need them near by at all times. This is what I have sitting at the top of my work space so I can reach them easily.

I used my hole punch on some plain white paper, then pressed the dot into the ink pad. I used a dab of the Martha Stewart glue pen on the back side, then adhered it to the side of the pad for each color as shown here.

Now I can see ALL the colors easily from the side as they are piled on top of each other. I really love this, because it makes it super easy for me to choose the exact color I want, without having to take the basket and pull them out one at a time.  I hope this helps shed some ideas on how to make finding your colors easier and more efficiently.  Thanks for letting me share this idea with you all.

Kimberly's Challenge

Hello everyone, it's Challenge time! So put your thinking caps on and come play with me! I enjoy a good challenge when it come to creating and spurring on my mojo. I tend to see a lot of different variations when I look at ads and sketches of all different sources.

Here is my challenge for you: I would like you to find a Studio Calico ad design that inspires you to create. Draw a sketch of it then create your own work of art from it.

This is what I created, and the ad I used to draw my inspiration from.
  

I drew out a sketch on my little yellow sticky pad I keep near me at all times, and saved it until I had exactly what I wanted to work with it. When I received my wood veneers I knew these would work perfectly for this fun design.

Supplies used: Patterned Paper - Studio Calico Elementary Atmosphere, Nibbles, Penmanship; Wood Veneers - Stars and Alphabet; Pen - American Craft .03 black and Sharpie poster paint red ultra fine tip; Ink - Black StazON; Mist - Mister Huey's Schoolhouse, Lunchtray, Warm Calico, Sunshine and Calico White 

A little tip on spraying the Wood Veneers. You will want to allow them to dry between sprays if you want to get a two tone effect. For the stars, I sprayed with Lunchtray and let it dry, and then added a little bit of Sunshine. Once that was dry again, I pressed down on the Calico White on the side to just allow drops to come out and give a kind of speckled effect over the top. I did the same thing with the Wood Veneer Alphabet. I outlined the letters and stars with my pens after all the paint dried.
 

Post your links here in the comment section when you have it completed for a chance to win a $5 GC. I will also have a place in the forum to share your creations with everyone as well.

Sunday Sketch

Kelly Noel here with your Sunday Sketch:
Based off of Kimberly's layout from the Napa Valley gallery:
I loved Kimberly's page and was excited to lift it. I especially love how the design is centered right down the middle, so I made sure to stick to that part of the sketch. I used three small photos sized to 3x4 in, which gave me lots of room to play up top.
I planned out where I wanted to place my title before printing the journaling, printed the journaling onto regular printer paper leaving space in between the text for the title, then I adhered the white cardstock to the printer paper and ran it back through the printer to get the journaling into the right place.
Supplies: Patterned paper - Elementary Library, Documentary Jet Set, Documentary Souvenir; Stickers - Documentary Alpha; Rub-ons - Graph Stars; Wood Veneer - Stars; Mist - Mister Huey's Schoolhouse; Other - Glossy Multi-Medium

I had a lot of fun with the new Wood Veneer Stars. I sprayed them with the Schoolhouse Mister Huey and then put a light coat of the Glossy Multi-Medium  to give them a little bit of shine. Then, I added the Graph Star Rubons and finished the larger star off with a button.

Include your link to this thread by Saturday for a chance to win one of two $5 Studio Calico gift cards.  Good luck!

Insider Tips: Kimberly Neddo

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a fun idea with masking and making what you have on hand unique even if you’ve used it before.
 
I love to work off of borders and you can use anything you would like, from punches to die cut machines, to cutting knives to create your own personal masking tool.  I used my cricut machine to cut these circles in a row out evenly spaced.  Once I had the circles cut in the cardstock, I popped the circles out to leave the circles open so I could utilize the negative space as my mask. 
 
Since I want to position the template temporarily, I used my MS Glue pen on the back side of my template. One of my favorite things about this pen is how you can use it as a temporary adhesive if you let it dry before placement. I used it as a temporary and this keeps my template where I want it with out it slipping, as well as allowing me to pick it up once I’m done misting or stamping without it damaging the paper underneath.

Now with my template in place, I am ready to start misting inside the circles. I first misted with Mister Huey Calico White, then a little mist of Mister Huey Lunchtray. Keeping the template in place, I then used Studio Calico label stamps. After I finished stamping, I removed the template and began creating the rest of my layout around the misted circle border.  While I’m waiting for the misted circles to dry completely, I’m decided to make something else.
 
Lately I’ve really love the look of decorative tapes… but again, I like to create my own embellishments to add a unique look to my creations. I created this fun decorative tape using simple crepe paper. I stamped over it and cut out the strips and simply attached the tape where I wanted them on my design.


Once the circles that I misted were dry completely, I stitched around the edges for a fun look. This is a simple way to add a little more dimension to your creation. You may also like to try other ways to add dimension by simply drawing around the masked circles, or sew around them…or leave it just as.
Supplies; Patterned Paper - Elementary Show Your Work; Stamps - Studio Calico labels;  Fabrips - Elementary;  Ink - StazOn Black; Adhesive - Martha Stewart Glue Pen; Stickers - Elementary Cardstock Alphabet; Mists - Mister Huey Lunchtray and Mister Huey Calico White

Hope you enjoyed these fun tips!

Hi there Studio Calico friends!  I have the pleasure to share some fun and creative ideas on how to use Mister Huey AppleJack mist from Nicole Samuels, Nicole Harper, and myself. 
I wanted to see all the different ways I could use this product and am very happy to report that Mister Huey makes an awesome background on homemade shrinky dinks! 
Supplies: Mist - Mister Huey Applejack, Stamps - Mini Doily, Cherries Mini, Mini Star, Ink - StazOn

These little wine charms are a perfect gift that I will be sharing with my friends this Christmas.  I purchased some plain shrinky dink sheets and used my scallop circle punch to create the charm. Then I stamped the image on first and after it dried I sprayed Mister Huey AppleJack over the top.
Punch a hole in them for the wire, place 2" apart onto a foil lined cookie sheet, and bake in oven  This is fun to do with little ones too, they love watching the shrinking process.  It only takes about 30 seconds and they are done!

Nicole Samuels came up with a fabulous layout using Mister Huey Applejack and chipboard masking. Supplies:  Patterned papers - Harper's Rule, Penmanship, Nibbles; Mist - Mister Huey Applejack; Stickers - Elementary; Chipboard - misc. chipboard letters as masks and Drafting Table kit; Punch - Postage Stamp border punch; Fabrips - Documentary

Nicole used leftover mismatched chipboard letters as masks on the Penmanship paper to make the large title.  For the banner she used some fabrips and twine.  Just cut off a little strip of the fabrip and folded in half over the twine to make a "flag".  The B side of Harper's Rule is the perfect place for her son to write down his teacher's name, favorite part of the school day, new friends, etc.  Nicole loves that she will have her son's 2nd grade "stats" in his own handwriting on the page. Isn't that so clever and fun?
Look at how Nik H masked a cool heart image on her Layout title background and layered it into her creations as an embellished background. Love this! Supplies: Patterned paper - Blue Ledger Die Cut,  Journaling tag - Elementary; Stickers - Elementary; Rub-ons - Orange Clocks

Thanks for stopping by and seeing some fun and new ways to use your Mister Huey Applejack. I really love how these mists work on other products, not just paper. You can spray plastic, clay, transparency, you name it... try it!