Studio Calico

sc + basic grey

We love the Basic Grey Clippings line, and were excited to use some patterned paper, mini envelopes and number brads in CENTRAL HIGH. We're also thrilled to bring you a little extra inspiration from Basic Grey design team member Shannon Tidwell and Waleska Neris! (PS : if you're still pondering our STYLE GUIDE or ROAD SHOW add-ons, you might want to check out the Basic Grey Facebook page. ;))

Shannon Tidwell : Shannon has been preserving memories and memorabilia in some shape or form since her teenage years.  In the summer of 2000 she discovered what we now call scrapbooking by seeing a magazine in the grocery store check out line.  It was love at first sight!  Scrapbooking has opened up a whole new world for Shannon since then, but she never wants to forget what scrapbooking is...a hobby she loves.  She enjoys creating  albums full of fun and eclectic pages that make her happy to look at. 

Shannon has been published in several major publications and was also a member of the 2005 BHG Scrapbooks Etc. Creative Team. She's been a Garden Girl at www.twopeasinabucket.com since 2001. Shannon has taught classes and workshops across the US, as well as online. The subjects of most of her pages are her three kids, Maddox, Crew, and Grayson, and her husband, Chad.

I love the design of this Basic Grey Clippings Flannel Suit Patterned Paper although sometimes I find papers like this to be tricky to use. I wanted to make it my own so I added a few things to it. First I used a craft knife to cut the inside of the photo frame out. I adhered my photo to the backside so that it was actually behind the frame, not on top. I also used my craft knife to slice along a couple of the printed papers so that I could tuck more paper pieces and die-cuts behind them. The machine stitching also helped add a lot of texture to the preprinted design. I added one of the Clippings Brads right on top of a printed brad...worked perfectly! This was such a fun kit to play with!

You wouldn't normally think about using office supply looking products on a sports layout, but I did! You see, while my son swims I write, plan, brainstorm, and basically try to use the time to get organized. I love that time!  To mimic the idea of him going back and forth I punched arrows from the great striped Studio Calico paper in the kit. I flipped a few of the arrows over and used the backside, too. I added a little texture to the page by machine stitching over the arrows as well as the diagonal stripes on the bottom. I used a strip of masking tape to base my title on and added a die cut and sticker in the middle. The cute Basic Grey Clippings Mini Envelopes house my journaling!

Waleska Neris :  I'm a full time working mama to two boys.  I live in soCal with said boys, 1 hubs and 1 yellow lab. I'm also an early morning scrapper, good housekeeper and terrible cook.

I loved working with this kit. There's a great mix of bright bold colors softer ones... all the extra fun stuff (sequins, paper clips, diecuts) made it really fun. Oh, and those AmyTan alphas are the best!

As we post this, the crew is setting up to finish up shipping.... and I bet this makes you wish your kits were already there! Shannon and Waleska have both brought in so many cool ideas and gorgeous details - please join me in saying THANK YOU to them for sharing such awesome projects!

summer of '69 + october afternoon

The beautiful colors of October Afternoon's Woodland Park line set the tone for our Summer of '69 kit - so who better to help show them off than two members of OA's design team? We asked Lexi Bridges and Jill Sprott to work their magic with the kit.

Lexi Bridges :

Lexi lives in Missouri with her high school sweetheart husband of almost 13 years and two precious, busy boys. And a cat she has lovingly named "devil cat".  She's a stay at home, homeschooling momma that plays with paper and glue in the basement, often in the wee hours when the house is quiet. She has always loved to get crafty and has been scrapbooking about 4 years. In her spare time (yeah,right!) you might find her in a junk store or flea market.

I love a versatile kit. I love having products matched up for me and ready to go. And of course, I love me some October Afternoon ;) The "selfies" layout came about after pulling the colors from the photo, adding the more girlish patterned papers and then playing with some watercolors. It's always fun to use colors you normally don't use.

For the "mustache" layout I used the more boyish colors and had fun with my Cameo. For the record: buttons don't have to stay round. You can cut them :)

I was surprised how how easy it was to download and start cutting the SC cut files! I used the October Afternoon Blue Sky patterned paper for the die cut, as well as to back it. I thought the paper went along perfect with the sentiment.

Jill Sprott :

Hi! I'm from Oahu, Hawaii, where I live with my husband, daughter, and our menagerie of pets. I'm a high school English teacher, which makes for pretty busy days, but on the weekends, when I'm not grading papers, I shift from working with words to playing with words and pictures, surrounded by patterned paper.  Like teaching, scrapbooking is a creative, challenging, colorful, and rewarding endeavor, and when I immerse myself in it, I am in my element. I am currently on the design teams for October Afternoon and Jenni Bowlin Studio, and I am also a Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket.

 

Working with this month's Studio Calico main kit, which features papers from October Afternoon's Woodland Park line, was such a thrill!  With its vibrant colors and lively patterns, it's perfect for creating layouts featuring summertime photos.

Please join me in thanking Lexi and Jill for sharing such awesome projects with us this month!!

shimelle laine - july guest

Our fabulous July guest, Shimelle Laine, set out on a mission to use every bit of the kits we sent her this month. The result? 16 amazing layouts in her gallery, and 21 finished projects total. WOW.

Shimelle is also sharing a series of videos on her blog so you can get a peek into her process of making these layouts. I love seeing how she adds all of these cool details! You can find the first two here & here - keep an eye on her blog for more to be posted.

Thank you for the inspiration overload, Shimelle! I think I need to go cut some paper ASAP - how about you?

studio calico + my mind's eye

With  reveal day behind us and shipping day coming soon, it's time to start planning what you're going to make when SO CAL hits your scrap table. Our June kit was packed with My Mind's Eye products, so we asked two of their design team members to share some extra inspiration with the kit. Jana Eubank and Tina Walker totally rocked this kit, and we can't wait to share what they made! But first - how about a giveaway from MME?

They've sent us the Nostalgia collection pack + the 6x6 pad, chipboard accents, brads and layered stickers for one of our lucky blog readers. I think the colors of this line will coordinate beautifully with the SO CAL kit.  Leave a comment here by June 6th at midnight EST and we'll draw a winner next week!

 

Jana Eubank :

Hi, my name is Jana Eubank. I am passionate about playing with paper and recording my family's memories through scrapbooking. I live in Bountiful, Utah, with my husband and our four kids (three daughters and one son). I work full-time from home for Cricut managing a design team and two blogs for them. One is the company blog and the other is a private members-only blog for the Cricut Circle, a great community of Cricut enthusiasts. I love my job! Crafters are the nicest people there are and I love that we constantly support, teach, and inspire each other.

I had so much fun creating these two pages with this kit. The color combination is so clean, fresh, and inspiring. It reminded me of an early morning Summer sunrise. I especially loved the way these juicy colors played off each other against the neutral cardstocks in the kit. I couldn't get enough of those cute die cuts! This kit helped me to capture my daughters' sunny personalities perfectly! Thanks for letting me play along with all of you this month! I had a great time!

Tina Walker :

I created my first scrapbook over 15 years ago, but my latest obsession with scrapbooking started about 3 years ago and I haven't stopped since.  I think I am drawn to this art because of the great styles, techniques, and product that are used in scrapbooking today and that all styles are embraced and loved. I often get asked what my scrapbook style is.  A good pre-defined definition doesn't exist, so I like to use the word 'chameleon'.  I like to try new techniques and designs, so you may see pages from me that encompass the meaning of 'white space' all the way to an artsy, grungy page. Many of my layouts are of my two French bulldogs, Moose & Flikka.  My kids are grown, so they don't cooperate much with my photo taking and scrapbooking obsession, so the next best things are my four legged friends.  Scrapbooking also allows me to share my other obsession, photography.  They go hand in hand with each other.

The June kit is full of fantastic papers, embellishments, and product, which made it super easy to create fun layouts with it.  I really love the muted color palette and the fun and fresh designs that were included in the kit.  My favorite items in the kit are the Tim and Beck paper and stickers.  I LOVE these!  The Studio Calico papers were also at the top of my list.  And of course, I always love MME buttons.  These are a great way to add a little color, fun, and design to any project.



Tina made so many awesome pages with SO CAL that we didn't have room to share them all here. I think she must have used every last bit of the kit! Stop over to her blog to see the rest of her projects.

Please join me in thanking Jana and Tina for sharing so much inspiration! Remember, you can see more of their beautiful work on their blogs over over at My Mind's Eye.And don't forget to leave a comment to win the MME Nostalgia goodies! a Rafflecopter giveaway

studio calico + echo park

We've packed up all of the 35mm orders and most are en route to your doorsteps - if not already there! In anticipation of you opening this gorgeous kit and digging in, we wanted to bring you a little extra inspiration featuring just the main kit. Since 35mm features some gorgeous product by Echo Park Paper, we wanted to see what their design team could do with it! We've got projects from four Echo Park designers - Jennifer Gallacher, Nancy Damiano, Tamara Tripodi & Linda Auclair. These ladies have rocked the kit, and we hope you enjoy their work!

Jennifer Gallacher :

I currently work with Echo Park Paper as their Marketing Coordinator/Managing Editor. In addition I serve as a Garden Girl forwww.twopeasinabucket.com. You may have seen my work as an Assistant and Contributing Editor for a few of Northridge Publishing titles including Cricut Magazine, Scrapbook Trends Magazine, and the Create Idea Book Series. In my 15 year career as a designer, teacher, and editor in the industry I've had the opportunity to work for such companies as Making Memories, Little Yellow Bicycle, Li'l Davis Designs, and Karen Foster Design. I have taught and demonstrated at CHA tradeshows and local scrapbook stores and had many projects published in the leading papercrating magazines. I enjoy both traditional, hybrid, and even digital paper crafting. When I'm not designing, I enjoy reading and watching English Period Piece movies. My husband doesn't quite understand how I can watch a Jane Austen movie five times in a row, but I think it's wonderful!

"I was particularly drawn to the blue, tan, and green contained within this kit. It seems like a soft, muted yet masculine color scheme. I built my layout around the Heidi Swapp book, which I cut open and layered additional diecuts and stickers on top. I then combined the hexagon stamp with the canvas hexagon stickers, which I misted with green ink. I also cut the blue hexagons from the patterned paper and layered them into the pattern as well, using adhesive foam squares to "lift" some of the shapes off my page. I cut the title with my die cut machine and added a secondary date title by misting the Heidi Swapp letters with blue spray mist."

"I used one of the Heidi Swapp booklets which was folded in half to create the card base. I simply cut the back side of the card shape to match the front. Then I layered papers, and die cuts on top to finish the card. I even used the little folded, kraft cardstock that was stapled and holding the ribbon as an element on my card. I created a second one with my own cardstock and stapler."

Nancy Damiano :

Hi there everyone! I'm Nancy Damiano, a native New Jersey girl, married + mom to one 6 y.o.  boy named Nico. I've been crafty since forever (rug latch-hook anyone?) and scrapbooking since right around 1996. This paper and photo thing has been the only craft that I've stuck too. I love it - the photos, the stories, the stuff.  I'm happy and proud to design for Echo Park, Bella Blvd and Two Peas in a Bucket. Thanks for having me Studio Calico!

This is the very first Studio Calico kit I've ever worked with. Can you believe it? I wasn't sure if I was a kit kind of scrapper, but now I know. I loved having everything matched up, kitted up and shipped out  to me. The colors in the 35 mm kit are so pretty and I love how well texture is incorporated into the mix. And the canvas 'hexs' and pretty die cuts - they are the icing on the cupcake.

Tamara Tripodi :

Hi! I’m Tamara, AKA: Happy Life, Crafty Wife! I am so excited to be a part of the Epiphany Crafts design team and share my creations with all of you! I live in Tehachapi, CA with my 3 kiddos, 2 fur beasts, and hubby. I started paper crafting in October 2010 and have been non-stop ever since! Its such a part of who I am now, I can’t ever imagine NOT paper crafting! I sit down to craft pretty much daily! When I am not paper crafting, I am busy being a fun mama! I love throwing little surprise parties for my kids, just random things, like indoor camping night, ‘I love you’ parties, etc. I also enjoy baking and you can bet there is always some sort of freshly made treats around here, trust me, you would want to be my neighbor! Other things I like to do are sew, design hair pretties, shop.. and shop some more, drink coffee and wine, laugh, and just enjoy life!

I had a lot of fun working with the 35mm kit! Working with a kit is pretty new to me, as I like to stay very 'matchy matchy' with using just one or two collections at a time. The colors in this it are just YUMMY! I decided to do two little projects, rather simple, really. My first project is a layout. I've not even done 5 layouts yet, so doing a layout is still a bit of a challenge. I also created a simple photo sleeve for 'snapshots' that matches nicely with the layout. I loved working with the Heidi Swapp folders! Very cool! And as always, I just love washi tape! Thanks for having me join in the fun!

Linda Auclair :

I have always loved pretty paper.  Even before I was officially a scrapbooker I kept illustrated journals with photos and clippings.  One of my favorite jobs that I have ever had was in the Product Development department of a greeting card company.  Working with all those great artists, colors and textures really got my paper crafting hobby started. Still, it took me until I was expecting my youngest child to pick up a copy of Creating Keepsakes and officially become a scrapbooker.  I finished my daughter’s first year album before she was even born, and have been happily scrapping ever since.  (Aileen just turned 10 this week!)  In the past decade, I have had the opportunity to work for a variety of companies, such as Fiskars, Creative Imaginations, Epiphany Crafts, and my current Design Team post at Echo Park Paper, as well as a number of online retailers.  I have had my work published in magazines and eZines, and have been guest blogger/designer for a number of manufacturers.  I am an active blogger, and love to share my designs along with tips and tricks I have discovered with my readers at http://elendae.wordpress.com/

I have created two projects to share with you.  The first is a layout that features a group photo of my three children. My son, Jonathan, is a grad student at UPenn, and his trips home this school year have been few and far between, so this page celebrates my “Photo Op” to get some pictures with all three kids together.  I really enjoyed all the hexagon shapes in the kit, and my layout plays them up in all their different forms: in the patterned papers, die cuts, canvas chipboard shapes, and the awesome acrylic stamp!  Sharp-eyed readers might spot two of my “trademark” touches on the page.  I used the dark brown grid packaging insert from the canvas shapes for my photo mat, and there is a bit of the barcode strip from one of the “This & That” patterned papers peeking out from under the diecuts on my journaling pocket.  There is some stitching, some inking, and some misting too.

The second project is a small wooden box from the dollar shop that I dressed up in one of the patterned papers from My Mind’s Eye and created a mini album that fits perfectly inside from one of the Studio Calico patterned paper sheets.  The photos are all the things that are making me happy this spring that I have been photographing using my favorite new app: Instagram!  I simply saved  the photos to my computer’s hard drive and printed them to use in my mini album. Thanks so much for the opportunity to design with the May kit!  I *heart* Studio Calico!

Please join me in thanking Jen, Nancy, Tamara and Linda for sharing their work with us here today! You can see more from them on their blogs or over at Echo Park Paper.

 

monthly kit spotlight

I love Aprils's main kit, City of Lights. The Jenni Bowlin Stencil Lettering Guide is an awesome piece of paper that can be used in so many different ways, and there are a lot of great patterned papers included as well. I thought the Gold Glitter Pow paper and Mister Huey's Cameo and Dewey would be great additions to this kit, so I made sure to do some cutting with my Silhouette Cameo to incorporate those items. I'm a total sucker for butterflies so I was of course smitten with the Sassafras butterfly stickers, they are a great way to add a little extra oomph to your pages. I was also able to get some more use out of my Knockout punches, as well as my Dear Lizzy Roller Date stamp.  This page really came together super quickly, and that is thanks to an awesome kit. 

crate paper feature

Now that most of you have the March kit, STORY HOUR, in your hands, we wanted to bring you a little extra inspiration. We asked two of Crate Paper's design team members to work with the main kit, and I'm absolutely loving what they did with it! STORY HOUR is still available -these bright and fabulous pages from Annabelle O'Malley and Roree Rumph just may be the key to pushing you over the edge to hit BUY. ;)

First up, we have two beautiful pages from Annabelle :  

Hi! I’m Anabelle O’Malley!  I live in Delaware with my husband and
our eight year old son, Ryan and our orange tabby, Pulu. Although I’d love to spend every day crafting in my scraproom, I have to pay the bills somehow, so I also work at the University of Delaware in the Early Childhood Department.

I’ve been paper crafting for the past eight years and have loved every minute of it. It truly is my creative outlet. As a child, I would spend hours drawing and making cards for people, so this is just a natural extension of my love for all things paper. Along with creating layouts, I still love card making and trying out new techniques. I also love creating decorative gift wraps and tags. Giving them to someone is a gift in itself! Seeing Ryan enjoy the albums I’ve created makes this hobby so worthwhile.

My creations contain lots of texture and details. I love mixing colors and patterns. Finding and using vintage items is something I also enjoy doing.  Lately, foam adhesive and die cuts from my Silhouette machine have been making many appearances on my pages!

I’ve been lucky to have been published in Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Trends, Scrapbooks Etc., Cards, Paper Crafts and several other paper crafting books. Additionally, I was a Memory Maker’s Master in 2008 and got to work closely with that publication.

I loved breaking into my March kit! The Crate Storyteller line was just perfect for some pages I've been wanting to do. I loved the vintage scraps of paper and decided to use them to mat my photos. The green gems also were a lot of fun to use. They made for wonderful accents against the red, yellow and blues of the paper.

I've been wanting to try my hand at making a confetti pocket for a while, so I got the chance to do so on my "Fun at Carousel" page. I cut a 12 by 1 inch strip of page protector, added my confetti, then stitched the other side closed. I decided to mimic the zig zag pattern from my layered border and stitched a large zig zag down the pocket. I even used one of the cute advertisement cards that came with my kit. See it behind the vintage papers under my photos?

I used the Storyteller stickers to create a patchwork border on my 'That's How We Roll' page. I cut pieces of the stickers, adhered them to the top and bottom of the page and stitched them togehter. The white Mr. Huey mist against the dark paper gave me the 'asphalt' look I was going for. I cut the sunburst shapes from with my Silhouette and layered more Storyteller papers behind my main photo. I even used the punch tag from the sticker sheet on my top photo!

Next up, two awesome pages from Roree :

I'm a mom to my two daughters, Grace and Harper, and married to my best friend, David. (We're at 18 years and counting!) I started paper crafting about seven years ago, got hooked immediately, and I'm still having a blast creating today. My first love in paper crafting is making cards, but I also enjoy scrapbooking and altering too. I'm crazy about color and texture, and you will see a lot of both in my work.

I had so much fun working with the March's Story Hour kit.  It is filled with such wonderful colors, patterns, and textures!  I am a patterned paper junkie, and I was beyond thrilled with the selection.  And the roller date stamp is too fun!  But really... I loved everything!    

Please join me in thanking Roree & Annabelle - for sharing their talent with us!

Monthly Kit Spotlight

I love a pretty patterned paper just as much as the next scrapbooker. And I have a stash that would probably make you jealous, because although I love the look of patterned paper, I have a tough time using it on my pages besides for little accents here and there (a heart, a butterfly punch, etc.) So what's a girl to do when I get my kit every month and it's full of beautiful patterned paper? I use a technique I call "wallpaper," using the paper for one entire page of a two-page spread. Here is an example from October's Field Guide Kit:

And here is a page I did using the awesome chevron patterned paper in the Glee Club Kit:
And here's one from the Mind the Gap Kit:

For me, this "technique" is a great way to add a little bit of color to the white space on my pages and albums. Hope you give it a try!

field guide feature

Hi all! We're all so excited about the Sassafras exclusive papers and chipboard butterflies in our October kit, Field Guide - and to celebrate the collaboration, we asked two of Sass's fabulous design team members to work their magic with the kit. We think you'll love what Michelle Clement and Megan Klauer have done with Field Guide!

Our first three projects come from Michelle Clement. I've always love Michelle's free, artsy style and I couldn't wait to see what she'd make with the kit.

Black Sand :

I love that she used a black background on this page - it really brings out the bright colors in this month's exclusive papers.

This Laugh :

How awesome is this use of the Telegraph paper? I also love the way she used adhesive foam on some of her butterflies to layer them over one another.

Red Sand :

And on her last layout, the stitching over the starburst paper caught my eye - and the way she cut the paper on a curve adds such energy to her page.

Our next two projects are from Megan Klauer. Megan uses color so well and her compositions always catch my eye - I knew Field Guide would be perfect for her style.

Love you :

This design is fabulous - I love how she's offset the sun from the Sassafras exclusive paper with the circle of butterflies.

The protector :

I love how Megan was able to mix so many patterns on this page without it being busy - she found the perfect balance between the more subdued papers and the brighter pops of color.

Please join me in thanking Michelle and Megan for sharing these gorgeous projects with us!

Kit Spotlight

Hi friends!  I know it's almost time for the September kit Reveal but wanted to share another layout I made with August's kit, Boardwalk!

I misted and layered the gorgeous Pink Paislee scallop mistable trim... it's a super fun embellishment.  Hope you're enjoying Boardwalk and don't forget to share your layouts with us in the SC Gallery!