Studio Calico

day by day

I was really excited to make a Project Life spread using the new Studio Calico lines: Sundrifter, Here and There, and Snippets. They are colorful and whimsical and fit my style of scrapping perfectly. Plus they have so many little embellishments that would work well for Project Life. The spread came together really easily due to all the matching products, including the printables for these three lines.

(supplies: patterned paper – Here and There Chattanooga, Here and There 6x6 Paper Pad, Snippets 6x6 Paper Pad, Snippets Me-Oh-My, wood veneer - Here and There Wood Veneer Dogs, die-cut shapes - Here and There Die-Cut Shapes, Sundrifter Die Cut Shapes, die-cut frames – Snippets Die Cut Frames, thickers - Snippets Aqua Thickers, badges - Here and There Adhesive Badges, stickers - Snippets Tab Card Stickers, Snippets 12x12 Sticker Sheet, Sundrifter 12x12 Sticker Sheet, chipboard - Snippets Printed Chipboard Arrows, Snippets Printed Chipboard Cameras)

You can see this spread is filled with COLOR. One of my favorite products in these new lines are the little 3x3” frames. I would add them over a portion of my picture I wanted to stand out.

I love the paper in the Here and There collection called Chattanooga with all the little designs on it. I cut several out to use on my spread to further the theme I was after.

When I saw these new lines at CHA, I was instantly in love with the playful little circles with different words on them. They come in stickers and in wood veneer. I printed the 4x6 PL card with the same designs on them and then added some of the stickers over my photo for an easy insert.

I think this Project Life spread is one of my favorite ever because I love the colors in these lines so much and they totally fit my style of scrapping! I had such a fun time using them to create this spread and want to use them all throughout my Project Life album! 

-Suzy Plantamura

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

stamp brushes tutorial

(supplies - Studio Calico Sock Hop stamp brushes, white cardstock, frame)

As soon as we saw this gorgeous wall art by Nicole Samuels, we knew we had to ask her to share how to make it! Click here to download the tutorial and find out how to turn your favorite stamp brushes into a beautiful framed print.

patterned transparency tutorial

In this Project Life spread, I decided to create my own transparencies using the digital stamp brushes. They’re quick and easy to create and they’re fun to use. Click here to download this tutorial as a PDF. 

(supplies : Roller Rink Main Scrapbook Kit, Rainbow Kneesocks add on, Crack the Whip add on, Roller Rink Digital StampBrushes, Roller Rink Card Kit Stamp Brushes, Roller Rink Printable #1, Stencil Tags, Honey Bee Scissors, Glue Glider Pro)

First, you’ll need to purchase the transparencies. I’m using an Epson R340 Inkjet printer. I’ve purchased my inkjet transparenies through Amazon.com but you can also find them in your local office supply store. Just make sure you get the correct transparencies for you printer. They make them for laser printers as well. The inkjet transparencies have sort of a “tooth” on one side to accept the ink from the printer. That is the side you want to print on. Once you have your transparencies, you’re ready to create your patterns.

I’m using the Roller Rink digital brushes that are currently available in the shop. I start by creating a new layer.

Then I open up my brush window. If you can’t see it, just look under window and select brush.

Now select the brush you wish to create your pattern with. I’m going to use the long chevrons. You’ll also need to select a color as well. I have a visual of the pattern I want to achieve but I’m also playing around with the brushes too. I know I want my pattern to have 2 different colors and 2 different chevron images. I go ahead and “stamp” the first brush leaving a space in between for the other chevron I plan to stamp.

Once I have the first color down, I create a new layer and begin my second pattern of chevrons. I’m going for a non-uniform look and overlap some of the chevrons. I’ve also added a quote on top of the finished pattern.

I’m really trying to get 4 different overlays for my Project Life album onto one transparency. I’m keeping an eye on my ruler as I stamp down my pattern.

The last pattern I want to create is with the asterisks. I like that it came with one fill and one outline. I start with the fill image, select my color and I space the image out so that I can just hold down my cursor and drag across to create a line of asterisks.

After stamping down a few rows of filled asterisks, I select the matching outline included in the brush set, space them, then stamp over the filled pattern. I don’t want these to line up perfectly with the filled pattern.

After I’m finished with my full sheet of patterns, I flatten the image and print.

You’ll have to select the glossy finish through your print settings for your printer to print properly on the transparency. I let my sheet dry for a few minutes before handling it.

Now it’s time to assemble my pockets. I print my photos and select a few of my favorite pieces from the Roller Rink kit and add ons.

I cut down my transparencies to fit the 3x4 pockets.

I decided to layer the quote over some patterned paper.

I like how layering the transparency over patterned paper added subtle dimension. I’m some what of a “flat” scrapbooking. That’s why I love overlays so much. It adds that subtle dimension that I’m comfortable with, especially when it comes to Project Life layouts.