Studio Calico

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!

weekly challenge

Hi everyone this week we are challenging you to put some POP into your projects with colour!

From Jennifer : We all know that Black and White is such a great classic colour scheme to work with but why not punch it up a little with a POP of colour?

For my card I decided to use AQUA as my pop of colour, I just love how striking it is again the black. I chose the Miss You So Much stamp set from the Snippets Collection as my starting point. Using one of the banner images I stamped it repeatedly with white ink across black card stock on an angle to create a pattern. Next I punched out a circle from the center of this piece to create a window for my sentiment. And there is nothing like using a little ZING to really make a colour pop:) I stamped the ribbon banner image in VersaMark then heat embossed it with Aqua Zing Powder. Lastly I added a tiny punched heart that had been misted with white. So fun! Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

(Supplies- Stamps: Studio Calico Snippets Miss You So Much; Ink: VersaMark, Versafine Onyx Black; ZING! Embossing Powder:Aqua; Heat Tool:Zap Heat Gun; Mister Huey’s Mist:Opaque Classic White; other: card stock, punches)

From Nicole : Typically when I decide to edit a photo to black and white, or use a black and white filter in Instagram, it's because there are too many clashing colors from clothing or the background is distracting. For the photo in this layout though, I edited it to help portray an emotion and carry out with a black and white theme.

I choose the B side of one of the patterned papers in the Here & There collection as a simple base for this layout. I love the shades of aqua in the Ombre Thickers pack from the Sundrifter line and used those to create a bold title with a pop of color. The vellum frame and triangle die cuts add just a little more color and balance out the layout.

(Supplies - patterned paper : Here & There San Diego, Sundrifter 6x6 paper pad ; letter stickers : Sundrifter Ombre Aqua Thickers ; die cuts : Sundrifter vellum die cut frames and die cut shapes ; veneer : Snippets chevron wood veneer ; roller date stamp : Calico V.3 date stamp ; pens : Micron .01 and Uniball White Pen)

Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by April 22nd in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

product spotlight

This month, we challenged three members of our Creative Team to take on the same product. Check out how Celeste, Nicole and Gayatri used the vellum die cut frames : 

From Celeste Vermeend  :

I really love the vellum die cut frames in the Snippets range. They are lovely bright colours and they suit my style.  I think that the vellum makes them very-user-friendly as well. You can layer them over other products and even you photos. I felt the size of the frames lent themselves very well to smalller photos and as I love to doodle - I used a slick permanant pen and ruled arrows on one of the frames as well.

You also get lots of designs to choose from in each packet.I chose three different frames to use on the layout incorporating hearts and stars to go with my theme. I laid them out with my photo and moved them around a fair amount before I was satisfied with their placement.I simply used a glue runner along the bottom and bigger edge of each of the frames and that allowed me the freedom of sliding and placing embellishments around and under them.

My third frame got mostly covered in the process of adding details! But you can still see the frame edge and I like the white space it creates inside it. During the messy process of creating my background with Mr Huey's mists and paint - I also found that the vellum frames take these products as well. It's what comes of placing your frames down before the background is completely dry!

Supplies: Snippets vellum die cut frames, here and there epoxy brads, sundrifter seafoam PP, Snippet Hey PP, Snippets chipboard stars, Snap stickers, Neverland kit, Front Row digital cut file,  Mr Huey's letter jacket, Mr Huey's desert

From Gayatri Murali :

This is Gayatri Murali here. I am going to use the same die cut vellum frame on my card.  When I opened the package, the frames are so colourful with a gorgeous ombre effect to it. I wish I could use all the frame at once on my card. After much delibration, I decided I wanted to take one frame and make it the focal point on my card. To do that I also chose a graphic style card.

I took a portrait orientation of the card base, sprayed Powder Blue Huey Mist on it. I then placed the gorgeous ombre frame on the bottom left corner of the card front.I have used Snippets Chipboard Arrows and Pattern Paper to add detail to the frame. They also help to hold the frame to the card front.  For the sentiment, I used Snippets Miss You stamp set. Love how the sentiment is beautifully framed by the vellum frame and the powder blue spray highlights the frame. A clean, simple graphic card. 

Supplies - Pattern Paper: Studio Calico's Snippets 6 x 6 Paper Pad. Snippets: Chipboard Arrows, Snippets Miss You Stamp Set. Sundrifter Vellum Die Cut Frames. Studio Calico's Powder Blue Huey Mist. Cardstock: Stampers Select White papertrey Ink. Archival Jet Black Ink

From Nicole Reaves : 

I love the new vellum die cut frames from the Sundrifter line. They have a really nice semi-transparent feel and this small scale product is perfect for us Project Lifers. This spread, which I made as an insert for Week 8, is about a simple date weekend my husband and I had (our first overnight away from our kids!) while they got to spend time with Grandma.

I used the frames a few different ways - as a journaling box:

to highlight a particular portion of a photo:

and as a slot for some memorabilia, our hotel key.

supplies : patterned paper - Sundrifter 6x6 pad, Sundrifter Beautiful ; journaling card - March Neverland Project Life kit, Sundrifter Journal Card ; stickers - Sundrifter Tiny Brown alpha, Sundrifter 12x12 sticker sheet ; diecuts - Sundrifter die cut shapes, Sundrifter vellum die cut frames ; enamel dots - Roller Rink Card kit ; date stamp - Calico V.3 roller date stamp ; ink - Versafine Onyx Black ; pen - Micron .03 , white Sharpie poster paint pen ; other - file tab punch, arrow clip

How have you used the vellum frames? Link up your projects in the comments - we'd love to see!

darling dear

With our CHA releases coming to the shop soon, we wanted to share a bit more Darling Dear inspiration from our Creative Team.


patterned paper - Darling Dear Wayne, Hepburn vellum, 6x6 paper pad ; chipboard - Darling Dear Printed Chipboard Speech Bubbles  ; veneer - Darling Dear Triangles and Diamonds wood veneer ; gems - Darling Dear Opaque Brights ; alpha - Darling Dear Navy 6x7 alpha stickers ; stamp - Calico V.3 roller date stamp ; ink - Versafine Onyx Black

(Supplies - Patterned Papers : Darling Dear - Sinatra & Gable ; Stickers : Hearts & Arrows, Vellum Shapes ; Tiny Alpha - Charcoal : Tiny attacher)

(supplies : darling dear badges, darling dear crawford, darling dear hepburn, darling dear garland)

patterned paper - Darling Dear Crawford, Sinatra, Flynn, Taylor; veneer - Darling Dear Wood Veneer Alphabet; gems - Darling Dear Opaque Gems - White

(Supplies - Patterned Papers : Darling Dear - Wayne, Gable ; Tiny Alpha - Charcoal ; Stickers - Hearts & Arrows ; Chipboard - Hearts ; Gems - Greys & Whites )

weekly challenge

Hey everyone! Our challenge for you this week is to pose a question, perhaps to yourself or a family member, and document it. We are always asking ourselves inner questions, maybe scrapping them will yield some answers.

Celeste says :

Sit back and think about the things running through your head lately. We are always asking ourselves inner questions, maybe scrapping them will yield some answers?

And then again some questions are not internal they can relate to family, anything at all really.  Just lately, we have been mulling over which high school our eldest daughter should attend. A tough questions - and one we have been asking ourselves alot over the past few months. I snapped this iphone photo of my daughter after school on impulse and when I printed it I suddenly felt the need to document this curly school question.

(supplies - Block Party Kit, Pioneer Drive, Pollard Ave, January Printables, Mr Huey's in Bonny Blue)

Nicole says :

The last page in a Project Life album can be tough one to fill. In the layout above, I decided to close out her 2012 album by asking myself, my husband, and each of my children what their favorite memory of the past year was. After including a picture of each person, the result turned out to be a fun and simple way to reflect on the year while getting the rest of the family involved, even the youngest members.

 

 (supplies : patterned paper - Block Party Card Kit ; stamps - Day by Day class stamp set ; letter stickers - Block Party Project Life Kit ; star stickers - Block Party Project Life Kit ; printables - Block Party printable #2 ; speech bubble diecut - Day by Day class ; arrow diecut - Block Party Digital Stamps ; chevron diecut - Block Party Crooked Chevron Cut Design ; staples - Tiny Attacher ; twine - Block Party Card Kit ; pens - American Craft Precision Pens)

Nicole and Celeste can't wait to see what you do withthis challenge!! Create a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by January 21st in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.