Studio Calico

Sunday Sketch

This week, we invited SC member Valerie (username valerieb) to share her take on one of our sketches. Her use of color against neutral backgrounds has caught our eye, and we were happy to have her with us this week!

First up is our card sketch, based on a card from Maile Belle's Roundabout gallery :

This week's layout sketch is based on a project from Nicole Samuels' Roundabout gallery:

Valerie saw the potential in the layout sketch and took off running!

Suppies: Atlantic paper, fabric bow, vellum die cuts, glittered gold stars, wood veneer, anchor punch, cork arrows

I'm always so inspired by all the awesome design team work at SC and was thrilled to be asked create a layout using a sketch from one of the fabulous designers. I chose the sketch of Nicole's layout as I love the design. Since hers was a more simple layout, I tried to figure out how to make it my own with all the layers I like to have. I started by making the central square background shape. I made a grid with several pattered papers and then separated the top and bottom with a line of embellishments across the middle. I layered my photo on top, then layered a few journal boxes to the top of the photo in place of the mini photos that were part of the original design. I was inspired by Nicole's stitching on the chevron paper, so I cut a piece of the Atlantic chevron papers into strips and layered them at the top and bottom of the middle layers and instead of hand stitching I machine stitched in between them. I layered on a few more embellishments and called it done! Thanks for the challenge!! :)

We think Valerie mixed the perfect elements from Atlantic together...how cool are the little flags made with the vellum diecut shapes and arrows?!

Valerie, thank you so much for sharing your project with us! If you'd like to see more of Lea's work, please visit her Studio Calico gallery or her blog.

Now it's your turn! Make a project with using one of this week's sketches as a starting point, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by June 17th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

wholesale spotlight

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

Nicole Samuels - Fort Sumter : 

Maile Belles - Just Be Cool : 

Natalia Bun - Project Life March : 

Jennifer Picard - Adventure : 

Allison Waken - Waimea Canyon :

from card to layout

When I saw Maile's card using the new Snippets collection, I knew it would make a great starting design for a layout.  I loved how she tucked that little brad under the edge of the card stock and the simple flags are so sweet.  

I pretty much stuck to her overall design, but added more than just a brad along the left border.  I used some Zing embossing powders in various colors on some veneer speech bubbles as well as some Snippets brads for some extra dimension.  I also used Maile's idea of the flags coming in from each side border and added my own twist to those as well. 

(Supplies: cardstock - American Crafts; veneer speech bubbles,  brads, badges - Studio Calico Snippets collection; veneer flags - Studio Calico; Mister Huey's Clay and Taxi - Studio Calico; embossing powder - Zing Rouge, Leaf, Mustard, and Aqua; heat tool - Zap!; ink - Versmark and Stazon Black; date stamp - American Crafts)

Why not try using a card to inspire your next scrapbook page? If you do, we'd love to see - please share it in the comments!

product spotlight

I just love these Darling Dear chipboard heart stickers!  So much so that my entire package is almost used up.  Not only are they full of assorted shapes and sizes, but the patterns and colors make for a fun mix.  I've put a few to use on today's card...

These stickers are perfect for layering (one on top the other) without creating too much bulk.  I thoroughly enjoyed how easy it was to select from the collection the perfect hearts to embellish the edge.

They also pair well with other elements from the Darling Dear collection.  Take for example the Darling Sayings stamp set, which I used to finish off this card of mine. 

 

 

(supplies : patterned paper - Studio Calico Darling Dear 6x6 Paper Pad ; chipboard stickers - Darling Dear Printed Chipboard Hearts ; stamps - Darling Dear Dear Sayings ; other - Papertrey Ink cardstock & ink)

We wanted to show you even more ways to use the Darling Dear chipboard shapes, so we asked two more Creative Team members to put them to work. Kinsey used them on this Project Life Spread - the chipboard is a perfect way to embellish cards without making them too bulky for the pocket page protectors!

(Supplies: patterned paper- Studio Calico Darling Dear, October Afternoon, Crate Paper, Dear Lizzy ; Cardstock- American Crafts White, Bazzill Kraft ; alphabet stickers- Studio Calico, Basic Grey, American Crafts ; stamps- Studio Calico date stamp, KI memories 'real life' ; stickers- Studio Calico Darling Dear ; ink- Hero Arts black, Staz On Jet Black ; other- glitter, sequins, tiny attacher, vellum, paint)

Natalia used the speech bubbles on a layout - we've loving how they look layered over the paper speech bubbles!

(Supplies - Patterned Papers : Darling Dear - Garland, Hepburn, Monroe, Flynn; Stickers - Hearts & Arrows ; Chipboard - Speech Bubbles ; Gems - Whites, Brights )

How have you used the Darling Dear speech bubbles and hearts? We'd love to see - link us up in the comments!

christmas tags

Why not put your kit to work making holiday tags? Maile Belles is sharing a video tutorial on how she used our 34th Street Card Kit & Kris Kringle add-on to make this trio of tags.

 

weekly challenge

At the end of last week, we shared three inspiring tutorials from Maile Belles, Nicole Samuels and Kelly Noel. This week, we want you to give one of those techniques a try.

It's your choice - you can stamp on patterned paper like Maile, recolor your stamp brushes like Nicole, or create a diecut background like Kelly. We can't wait to see what you make!

Create a project using one of these techniques, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by December 3rd in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

stamping on patterned paper

Want to add a little something extra to your patterned paper? Why not dress up a simple pattern with a stamped image! Maile Belles has put together a video to show you how she made this gorgeous card.

 

(supplies - Studio Calico Bobby Socks & Leather Jacket Addons)

PS : we have two more tutorials coming this week - just our little way of giving thanks for the best blog readers around!

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! Maile here, and I'm so glad to be joining you today to give you this weeks challenge.  How many of you have a few favorite go-to layouts or designs?  I do for sure.  I have a few basic designs that I like to refer to from time to time; either when I find myself stuck and need a place to jump start my creativity or just need to create something real quick.

 

So, my challenge to you is to pull out one of your favorite basic designs and quickly assemble a trio of cards.  Stick to the same layout, but switch things up by using different pattern papers and embellishments on each project.

 

For my card trio, I've chosen to pair my favorite go-to layout with the new Darling Dear collection...

(supplies : patterned paper - Darling Dear 6x6 Paper Pack ; stamps - Darling Sentiments ; stickers - Darling Dear Printed Chipboard Hearts and Darling Dear Printed Chipboard Speech Bubbles ; veneer - Darling Dear Wood Veneer Tags & Plates ; cardstock - Papertrey Ink Rustic Cream ; ink - Archival Viridian and Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice, Canyon Clay, Ocean Tides, Enchanted Evening, Dark Chocolate)

It's easy to quickly crank out an assortment of projects when sticking to one basic design.  So whether you're planning on cranking out Christmas cards or just need to refill your card stash, this just might be the quick fix you need.  I hope you give this challenge a go! 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 November 12th in the comments here.

Sunday Sketch

This week's sketch comes from Maile Belles' "Hello" card in her ROLLER RINK gallery - we loved her focus on small embellishments that make a big impact and and wanted to see how one of our members would translate this card sketch into a layout!

This week, we asked SC member sandyang to share her take on the sketch. She used it for a layout, angled things a bit and added lots of fun embellishments of her own...we love how it turned out!

supplies : Paper - Websters Pages Sunday Picnic, Jillibean Soup Sweet & Sour Soup, Echo Park Everyday Eclectic, Kaisercraft Technologic, MyLYB Paradise, MME Indie Chic & The Sweetest Thing, Alpha - Echo Park For The Record, Simple Stories Life Documented, Amercian Crafts Remarks Smokey Joe's, Chipboard - Fundamentals Accents, Rhinestone - MME Everyday Fun, Transparency - Maya Road Mini Ticket

I'm thrilled to work with Maile's card sketch where a large rectangle and a series of  strips hang off the the top off the page. The first decision I made is to place all the key elements of my page along the left half of the layout. So the title and a 3.5"x2.5" photo went in the large rectangle block with the journaling below. To achieve balance I moved those long strips to right and added a chipboard car to mimic the shape of the title tab in the sketch. The next step is to tilt everything 15 degrees off the vertical, creating visual interest on the edges of the layout as the strips cut off at various angles. A final sprinkle of clear rhinestones on the barcode paper and I'm done.

We can't get over the impact of tilting her elements made here, and love that Sandy thought to document an ordinary day in her life. The neutral tones she used all tie in with her subject...amazing work, Sandy! If you would like to see more of her work, please check her blog and gallery. :)

How will YOU use this sketch?  Whether it's a layout, a card or something else, link us up to your project by October 22nd for a chance to win a $5 gift card to the Studio Calico shop.