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! 

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

start to finish with Atlantic | Maggie Holmes

 

We have loved seeing instagrams and message board posts about our new Atlantic collection showing up at all of your houses, and wanted to give you a little more inspiration as you started working with it. Today, we have a video from Maggie Holmes walking you through her process of creating this sweet layout with some of her favorite Atlantic products.

If you've had a chance to break into your Atlantic goodies, we'd love to see what you've made! Link us up, or share it with us on twitter or instagram using the hashtag #SCatlantic.

product spotlight

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

Nicole Reaves - By the Numbers : 

Joy Taylor - Hello :

Geralyn Sy - February Project Life

Deb Duty - Utah Vacation minibook

Suzy Plantamura - Learning to Love Myself

Leena Loh - Project Life Week 7

Julie Campbell - Happy Birthday

weekly challenge

CHALLENGE: Use the Studio Calico printables on a layout, card or project life spread.

The Studio Calico printables are such a great addition to the kits and work well on all projects including layouts, cards and Project Life spreads.  They probably give you the most “bang for your buck” of any product out there! You can use them as is, or you can alter them before printing or after printing to make them fit your needs. We'll be working with the Block Party printables today, but since they are no longer available we wanted to let you know that you can try these same ideas with the Front Row printables!

If you want to alter them to be more or less saturated, just go into Photoshop Elements to Enhance, Adjust Color, and Adjust Hue/Saturation. Slide the Hue bar to change the color, slide the saturation bar to increase or decrease the saturation, and/or slide the lighten bar to lighten or darken the entire page of printables at one time.  To change the color of just one printable at a time, in Elements, set the foreground color to what you want it to be and then use the Paint Bucket tool to click on the area your want to change to that color. Here is an example of the printables after all the colors have been changed.

Another option is to doodle on the printables to customize them. Here is an example of some of the January Day by Day class printables after they have been doodled on.

Anna-Maria shows us how she adds them to her scrapbook pages with all kinds of artistic touches. She refers to the printables as stylish, with good design, easily available, and economical with excellent high graphic quality. And with her eye for art and style, I trust her opinion!

(supplies: Block Party Printable #1 GS; Block Party Printable #2 GS; Block Party Scrapbook Kit; Pollard Avenue Add On Kit; Woodbrooke Road Add On Kit)

(supplies: Block Party Printable #1 GS; Block Party Printable #2 GS; Block Party Scrapbook Kit)

Here are some ways to incorporate the printables into a Project Life spread. If you look closely, this spread is made with almost entirely printables. I altered the colors and added some doodling to make them fit my needs and match my page.

(supplies – Block Party Printable #1 GS; Block Party Printable #2 GS; Block Party Scrapbook Kit; Block Party Card Kit; Block Party Project Life Kit; Pollard Avenue Add On Kit; Wildberry Court Add On Kit; Pioneer Drive Add On Kit; Woodbrooke Road Add On Kit; Uniball White Pen; other: markers)

From these close up shots, you can see how they were used in more detail.

We challenge you to use any of the Studio Calico printables on a layout, card, or Project Life spread. Try them as is or alter them to make them work for you. It’s one of the most easy and economical products to use on your layouts. We hope you enjoy using them as much as we did! 

Create a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by February 4th the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

Suzy and Anna-Maria