Studio Calico

Happy Little Moments | registration ends 5.31

We are putting the finishing touches on the class content for More Happy Little Moments and we cannot wait to share it with all of you!! Registration for this class ends on 5.31 and class begins 6.1 - if you've been waiting to sign up, you're running out of time!

Maggie Holmes and Marcy Penner have dreamed up all sorts of fun techniques to make your altered book amazing - even if you took Happy Little Moments last year, you'll still come away from this class with a ton of new ideas. Here's a little peek at what they've dreamed up.

Maggie is using her bright & girly class kit to create a romantic altered book - full of dimension and beautiful details.

Marcy's class kit is bold and playful, and she's used it to pull together a light and airy book with all of her signature touches - and a few surprises.

Contributor Lisa Truesdell has pulled ideas from both Marcy and Maggie's albums and will be sharing how to translate them into a Handbook format. She's using both class kits to build an eclectic album that will show you just how much fun pocket pages can be.

To learn more about this class or to register, go to the More Happy Little Moments registration page. We hope to see you in class!

NSD at SC | 2013 | PL team challenge 2

Pockets and envelopes are a good product to have in your stash - they can hide journaling, hold confetti, give you a place to hide a gift card - and more! We'd love to see how you use pockets and envelopes on your projects.

Nicole Reaves | I like to use small paper (and sometimes transparent) baggies in my Project Life spreads, especially when I want to include journaling that I don't want everyone to read. I think it adds some fun texture and interest to my pages, whether it is embellished or not. The spread I did here for the challenge is an insert from a long-weekend that my kids spent with my in-laws, their first 'trip' away from us. I'm so happy my mother-in-law took a ton of photos of their adventures and shared them with us! Instead of using a bag from my stash, I cut up some Sundrifter vellum and sewed a pocket to insert in one of the 3x4 slots of this Design G page protector. For now, I've slipped a large white tag in the pocket. The next time I see my mother-in-law, I'm going to ask her to write about her weekend with the kids on the tag and slip it inside the pocket.

Maggie Holmes | Using bags and envelopes is such a fun way to add a little more dimension to a project. My favorite thing to "tuck in" or put inside a glassine bag is sequins! I love how they look in there and think it adds a nice little surprise to anything!

Dana Fleckenstein | While creating with the May kit, I used one of SC's butterfly masks to trace the shape on the back of a pretty patterned paper from the North Star card kit add-on. I then used the this as my guideline to hand-cut the shape from the paper. To finish the card, I stamped a sentiment on cardstock and slid it into one of the cute polka dotted envelopes from the Planetarium card kit.

Maggie Holmes | Cards are a fun way to use glassine bags! It creates a little element of surprise and you can hide your message inside so that the card becomes interactive!

Lisa Truesdell | I think we've all been in a position of wanting to record certain thoughts on a page without them beind front and center. For this page, I wanted to jot down some thoughts about how much we love our current ball team, but part of that reflection included some past struggles with teams. Hiding the journaling lets me focus on this amazing team of boys and their coaches.

I had a little extra room at the bottom of my glassine bag and was going to just trim it down and stitch it shut when I decided it would make an awesome place for some confetti.

To be entered to win a prize from the fabulous Studio Calico prize stash, leave a comment here with a link to your new layout, card or PL spread/cards in the Studio Calico gallery by May 13th. We can't wait to see what you make!

NSD at SC | 2013 | card team challenge 3

Do you like to mix and match? We want to see five different patterned papers on your project! Go BOLD with bright colors and big patterns, or go with a more toned down combination. Dig into your paper, pull together a fun mix of papers and put them to work!

Ashley Cannon Newell | Adding multiple patterned papers all at once is a big challenge to take on for a card because of the small canvas size, but I was ready to create something clean and simple. So, I trimmed five sheets of different patterned papers to about 1/2" wide. Next, I stared at them forever trying to figure out how I wanted to add them to my card. Finally, I stacked them together at an angle and the rest was history! All those patterns on a clean and simple card design...who knew it could be done! Try it out!

Gillian Nelson | I love the look of combining several patterns and colors on a page, but I tend to get easily overwhelmed if I try to use them in large blocks.  So the answer for me is to incorporate all the different colors and patterns, but do so with small shapes.  I love that I can still get the visual interest from the multiple patterns, but it doesn't make the design too busy for me to work with.  For this page, I used 5 different patterned papers from the Studio Calico Sundrifter, Snippets, and Here & There lines to cut out Mickey Mouse shapes and give my title a colorful border.  Lots of color and pattern going on here, but there's still plenty of white space to let my eyes rest.  And they need to rest.  They're old.  

Maggie Holmes | I have to admit that this one wasn't super tough for me because I do love to use a lot of different papers on my layouts. BUT you will notice that I typically do it in a subtle way so that it doesn't get too overwhelming or busy. Here I used all of the different papers (except for the background paper) in small doses. In case you get nervous to mix this many papers together, take my lead and keep the amount of each one to a minimum! 

Deb Duty | Since I used mostly smaller photos in my 4x6 pockets on this Project Life spread, I used patterned paper to back them. I didn't have a lot of extra photos and I loved the beautiful floral pattern on the Cosmo Cricket paper from the Planetarium Big Dipper add on so I used it as a filler in one of the 4x6 pockets. I also made some of my own 3x4 cards out of patterned paper from the same Cosmo Cricket floral paper and the Amy Tangerine paper from the Planetarium main scrapbook kit.

To be entered to win a prize from the fabulous Studio Calico prize stash, leave a comment here with a link to your new layout, card or PL spread/cards in the Studio Calico gallery by May 13th. We can't wait to see what you make!

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.

more happy little moments

Life is full of happy little moments that we often don't scrapbook. Join Maggie Holmes and Marcy Penner and capture those memories in a one of a kind altered book with our More Happy Little Moments class.

Your teachers will be walking you through the process of putting together a unique album filled with peek-a-boo windows, envelope pages and all of the moments that make you smile.

Maggie and Marcy have each curated a class kit that they'll be working with in their books. Those kits are available for purchase here. If you purchase both kits at the same time, you can use the code SCHLM to get a free set of 4x3in veneer journaling cards.

Our teachers are joined by contributor Lisa Truesdell, who will be sharing tips to adapt Maggie and Marcy's ideas into a Studio Calico Handbook format.

More Happy Little Moments students will also have access to a variety of digital files - printables by Hello Forever and Bananafish Studio, hand drawn die cut files by Maggie Holmes and icon, tag and tab die cut files by Hello Forever.

This is a self-paced class - all class information will be posted on June 1st. To help keep you on track to complete your book, Maggie and Marcy will be posting a journaling prompt and technique challenge on the classroom message board each week.

You can find a complete syllabus on the More Happy Little Moments registration page. Enrollment is open now through May 31st, and class starts June 1st. We hope to see you in class!

Sunday Sketch

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

And the layout sketch is from Maggie Holmes' Spencer's gallery:

We invited member Erin (erintaylor718) to choose one of these to use as a starting point this week, and she couldn't choose just one!! She went above and beyond, by creating 4 total projects!!

Supplies:

Thank You - You Are Amazing (card)

Neverland Card Kit, "Thank You" stamp: Simon Says Stamps, Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo), Twine: American Crafts, Dies: Papertrey Ink (Double Ended Banner Die, Fillable Frames #9)

Jack @ 3 (layout)
Junior Mints Add-on Kit,Sock Hop Card Kit (stamp)

Brothers (layout)
Style Guide Add-on Kit, Pollard Add-on Kit, Pioneer Drive Add-on Kit, Letter Stickers, Today: Kelly Purkey SSS kit Carstock, Patterned Paper: Papertrey Ink

Hello Friend (card)
Front Row Card Kit, Neverland Project Life Kit, Junior Mints Add On Kit, Hook Add On Kit Tag , Die: Papertrey Ink (Fillable Frames #9), Twine: American Crafts

And a few thoughts on how Erin interpreted the sketches:

The card sketch was so much fun to work with! The four "homes" for products were easy to fill with embellishments and a sentiment (on the card), and it translated easily to a layout sketch. I started out with my journaling, which I adapted from a Cathy Z. digital template. I found a great photo of my son, and used various embellishments for the open spaces.

The layout sketch was a definite stretch for me. I am usually linear and "orderly", and this sketch is v-e-r-y random and scattered (a look I usually can't pull off!). But I was able to create a layout I love by reducing the size of the layout to 8x8, and working with fewer embellishments.

Wow...so many great things happening on Erin's projects! Most of all, we love that she was so inspired by both the kits & sketches, that she turned in 4 projects...thank you so much for joining us this week, Erin!! You can see more inspiration from her in her SC Gallery, and on her blog. Erin is also active in the Twitter community: @erintaylor718

How will YOU use this sketch? Whether it's a layout, a card or something else, link us up to your project by April 15th 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)

Sunday Sketch

This week's sketch comes from Maggie Holmes' 34th Street Gallery - and is based on her card titled "Why Hello There."



We were excited to see how April (lifeinprint) interpreted the sketch to make a layout, and it looks fabulous!



Here is what April had to say about using the sketch:

When I saw this sketch I knew this one would be perfect for these pictures of my oldest daughter.  I like how the banners and sentiment provided a base for the pictures to rest on.  I added a few more banners for depth and then tucked the pictures under a banner and used diecuts to create the title, turning them all slightly, so they would sit as silly as she is in the pictures. I also really liked Maggie's doodle around the edge of the card and her arrows, but instead of using just a pen since this is a bigger scale I decided to cut one of the patter papers from the kit into to strips and then I mitered the edges together, to give it a little extra detail, then sewed around the whole thing and did a zig zag stitch on all the mitered corners.  I added the chevron pieces that I cut from another sheet of the pattern paper to follow along with her arrows that she had hand drawn.  Instead of doing the three stars like the sketch I decided to change it up a bit and use some of the brads, sequins and rhinestone stars that came in the kit to make three small clusters instead.

Supplies: Sock Hop, Leather Jacket & Penny Loafers kits

What a great take on twisting a sketch to fit your needs...this looks awesome April!!

Please check out April's gallery and blog for more inspiration! She can also be found on Twitter: @lifeinprint

How will YOU use this sketch?  Whether it's a layout, a card or something else, link us up to your project by December 17th 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)

25 days

'Tis the season for making memories - and we want to help you record them. Join us for 25 Days : A December Daily (tm) guide with instructor Maggie Holmes. Maggie will be working with the Studio Calico December Daily kit and taking you through her album with daily PDF updates, giving you encouragement and inspiration to keep up with your own album!

Maggie is joined by six talented contributors who will be sharing tips and tutorials, as well pages from their completed book. Amy Tan, Ann-Marie Morris, Deb Duty, Kinsey Wilson, Marcy Penner, and Tami Gookstetter will each be taking on a December Daily (tm) album in their own style, giving you a wide range of inspiration. We'll also be sharing a bonus PDF from Ali Edwards with 25 prompts of stories to look for in your December. Class members will have access to a private message board where Maggie will be posting weekly discussion threads and challenges to help keep you on track.

Students will have access to exclusive printables and digital cut files from Ali Edwards, Kinsey Wilson, Marcy Penner of Hello Forever and France Wisniewski of Bananafish Studio. You can see all of the files here.

class schedule :
Dec 1st : PDF with Maggie's album base & video tutorial on her album cover
Dec 2nd : bonus PDF from Ali Edwards
Dec 3rd-27th : PDFs with daily updates from Maggie's album

Dec 3rd : tips and tricks from Ann-Marie - building your own kit
Dec 4th : tips and tricks from Kinsey - stitched album cover + stitched pockets
Dec 5th : tips and tricks from Deb - working with last year's photos
Dec 6th : tips and tricks from Amy  - collecting, organizing and using everyday ephemera
Dec 7th : tips and tricks from Tami - organizing product + your December activities
Dec 8th : tips and tricks from Marcy - creating shaped bokeh + getting great pics in the snow
Dec 9th : finished pages from Deb
Dec 11th : finished pages from Marcy
Dec 18th : finished pages from Amy
Dec 20th : finished pages from Tami
Dec 25th : finished pages from Ann-Marie
Dec 27th : finished pages from Kinsey

Registration for 25 days ends on 11.30.2012 and class starts on 12.1.2012. See you in the classroom!!

darling dear blog blitz

Our newest mid-release, Darling Dear, has hit the shelves of the Studio Calico store and is currently in route to many of your scrap desks. What better way to celebrate this dazzling new line than with a blog blitz?

We're starting you off here with three downloadable PDFs and a peek at our new digital offerings. But this is just the start of the inspiration - our design team has been working with Darling Dear and we think you'll love what they've made. You can find links to each of their blogs in our sidebar, or at the bottom of this post.

Lucky Stars by Maggie Holmes // click here to download the PDF


Long Time, No See // click here to download the PDF

Pumpkin Fun // click here to download this PDF

We have an exciting announcement to make - we now have digital files to coordinate with Darling Dear! Stop by the shop and check out our new Die Cut files, printables and stamp brushes. You may be able to spot these on some of the projects by our design team!

Amy Tan - April Foster - Becky Novacek - Celine Navarro - Dawn McVey - Geralyn Sy - Jen Jockisch - Kelly Noel - Kinsey Wilson - Lisa Truesdell - Maggie Holmes - Maile Belles - Marcy Penner - Nicole Samuels - Robyn Werlich - Sasha Farina - Stephanie Dagan - Susan Weinroth - Tina Aszmus

Our design team has worked their magic with this versatile line and we're excited to show you their projects! We've listed their blogs above so you don't miss any inspiration. Enjoy!

weekly challenge

Hi there! I am excited to be with you today here on the SC blog! Life is busy as usual but I always think it is important to recognize and celebrate the little things that make up our everyday lives! On that note, my challenge for you this week is scrapbook something from your daily or weekly routine.

(supplies : Central High kit, Tiny Attacher)

This layout comes from my October kit gallery and the photo is of my boys one morning before school. This is what they look like almost every day... leaving for school, walking together, always with a basketball or 2 or 3 in hand! I love that it captures a bit of our weekday routine and what life is like for us right now!

I can't wait to see what you come up with!!! To be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop, just complete a project based on this challenge, then upload it to the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by October 29th in the comments here.