Studio Calico

workspace wednesday

 

Hi SC'ers, I am happy to share a few snaps of my space with you today. My creative space is small and located in a corner of my bedroom, so there has to be a place for everything to keep me "semi-organized". One of my favorite items on my desk is my Making Memories carousel organizer (i think almost everyone has this) but I still love it after all of these years!

The majority of my supplies are located along a wall in my bedroom and I love my IKEA bookcase to store my albums, idea books, stamps and small embellishments.  I love storage that I can add more supplies on top of, like my bookcase and soda crate to extend my storage upwards.  I keep most of my Mister Huey's Mist on top of this vintage soda crate and above my desk.

I love to recycle cute packaging from gifts or store purchases to store smaller tools.

Thank you for stopping by for a glimpse into my creative space!

Summer Stamp School

Just when you thought school was out for the summer, we're ready to put you back in class! Join us in July for Summer Stamp School taught by stamping extraordinaire Robyn Werlich.

This self-paced class is complete with amazing PDF lessons you can download all at once to use at your own pace. You'll find new techniques and amazing inspiration from your favorite stampers.


Included in the cost of the class is an EXCLUSIVE stamp set (not available separately, ships free) designed just for Summer Stamp School. You'll see Robyn and contributors put this awesome set to work throughout the class.


The dream team of contributors joining Robyn are: Danielle Flanders, Ali Edwards, April Foster, Vee Jennings, Nicole Harper, Jessica Witty, Susan Weinroth, Shari Carroll, Geralyn Sy, Jennifer McGuire, Davinie Fiero, Maile Belles, Dawn McVey, Keisha Campbell, and Teri Anderson.

Registration ends June 30th and the classroom opens July 1st with all materials available on that date. See you in class!

NSD Challenge: Go Graphic

Hi SCer's, happy NSD! Vee here with your next challenge!

I want you to go graphic, use shapes like hexagons, stars, chevrons or circles in your design.You can combine shapes or use only one, it is up to you! I love using shapes to build backgrounds on cardstock. On this layout I went graphic with stars, in a variety of patterns, sizes and texture.
My background is mostly neutral, I used spray ink and ink to add pops of colors to coordinate with the pop of color in my photo.

Supply List:Adhesive; More White (cardstock);Ink; Mister Huey's Taxi; Mister Huey's Pinstripe;Pen;Classic Calico v.2 Wood Veneer Stars;Abroad Anywhere Thickers; Tiny Chevron ;(Classic Calico v2);Newsprint v2 (Classic Calico v2)

April says...

"It’s no surprise that I love working with circles.  On this layout, I decided to use o’s as circles, representative of Claire turning one.  I simply sized 3 different o’s and randomly placed them and cut with the Silhouette Cameo.  Side note: I just replaced my blade and I’m oh so happy I did, it made a world of difference!
After cutting, I simply backed the o’s with little bits of paper from the Abroad Paper Pad using this glue pen.  Since I was working with small shapes, I liked the smaller scale patterns.  Then, I added brads, thickers and journaling."

 

Supply List: Cardstock (More White), Silhouette Cameo, Abroad Paper Pad, Take Note Paper Pad (woodgrain), Abroad Anywhere Thickers, States Die Cuts, Precision Pen 03, Glue Glider adhesive, Glue Pen.

Post your layouts here by May 13th for you chance to win a collection pack from our stash of prizes!

Sunday Sketch

Hey guys! This week's sketch is by the lovely Vee Jennings. You can view the layout in her City of Lights gallery. 

This sketch contributer this week is Valerie Bishop (Valerieb). 

I just love Vee's work and I tried to get the same feel on my layout as she did on hers. I wanted the photos to pop on a softer background (like Vee's) so I used a monochromatic pink color scheme with just a few pops of silver and yellow to highlight the photos. I stayed pretty true to the design, but instead of using doilies, I wanted to use the doily mask that is in the new April Studio Calico kit City of Lights using the gorgeous new Boss Lady Mister Huey . For the misted doilies, I made another solid mask to fit around the doily mask by cutting a circle the size of the doily from some scrap cardstock and placed it around the doily mask while misting. That way the mist just stayed on the doily and not anywhere else! I love the effect! I then started layering all my pieces - staggering my photos instead of keeping them in a straight line since they were bigger than the photos in the sketch. After adding a few splotches of the awesome new Silver Mister Huey my layout was done! Thank you so much Studio Calico for letting me play along, and thanks Vee for being so inspiring!!

Wow Valerie! I love what you did with that cool stencil from the Louvre add on. 

Play along with the sketch this week and link us up to your layout by Monday, April 16th for your chance to win a SC GC!

MME Blog Hop

My Minds Eye is celebrating their social media launch this week along with 3 brand new lines. Studio Calico is happy to partake in the fun by giving away a set of adventure brads from the new Indie Chic line. 

This month's Studio Calico kit, City of Lights offered a mix of MME papers + embellishments. Here are few new layouts + cards our dt has put together.

-Tina Aszmus

-Kelly Noel

-Vee Jennings

Post your comment here for a chance to win the Indie Chic adventure brads! Next stop...the MME blog. 

photo prompts

Good Afternoon SC'ers! It's no secret that I love instagram! I think it's a perfect and fun way to document your life around you and to be inspired by others.  I have a few prompts for you to help you get over a slump if you are participating in project life or project 360.  Have fun!

before|after
Take a photo of an item or project where it reflects before and after, i.e. breakfast prep-presentation of breakfast; pre-haircut-haircut, dirty car-clean car
LOOKING DOWN
Photograph what's below you, what's in your hands, holding a hand or where you stand in a store. I love how photos look from above.

GET CLOSE
Make the subject of your picture fill up the frame and remember to get close.

COLLECTION
I love how a collection of similar items look pretty together. It can be a collection of your favorite scrapbook supplies, colors, shoes or perfumes. The possibilities are endless, sometimes we collect things without being aware of it!

5.TEXTURE
Photograph texture, it can be an outfit you are wearing, the patterns in your favorite clothing item or a child's stuffed toy. Texture can evoke memories and happy thoughts from experiences because it causes you to touch an item that reminds you of a person or time in your life.

FAVORITE
Capture your favorite routine or moment in your day. I love to get my Starbucks fix a few days during the work week. 

CURRENT VIEW
Snap a picture of your current view, is it a favorite view? I love this prompt because it is an awesome way to document the seasons and your environment around you.

BONUS PROMPT- A TASK
Take a photo of a daily or weekly task, it can be one that you love or hate but is a necessary part of your life.  

Have a great week!

Vee's Tutorial

Hello there SC'ers, It's Vee here with a quick tutorial for you today, that I hope you will enjoy. It has become a favorite technique of mine as of late. I love embossing onto acrylic overlays, it is super easy and I am going to show you how to add these glossy accents to your projects!


Gather your supplies, embossing powder(s), watermark stamp pad, overlay, stamp(s), heating tool and scissors. If you do not have clear overlays, you can use the protective sheets that come with your acrylic stamps or rubons. 


Select the stamp(s) you would like to use on your project,stamp the image onto the overlay using a watermark ink pad. Make sure you press firmly but not to hard (do not want the image to slide) in order to get a clear image.  Sprinkle embossing powder over the stamped image.  Shake the extra powder back into the jar. If you have extra powder on around your image you can turn over the overlay and pluck the back so the extra embossing powder will drop off.  I usually do this step over my trash can.


To seal the embossing powder use a heating tool to melt the embossing powder. Hold the tool about five- six inches above the image moving the tool back and forth to avoid burning the acrylic and powder.  Heat the image for about 10-12 seconds or until you see the image raise up and becomes shiny. Let the image cool for a few seconds then cut out your stamped image and adhere it to your project.  I LOVE the added texture of this technique! This to That glue dot adhesive is a great way to adhere this clear embellishment, I like to add it to portions of the image that is opaque so it doesn't show once adhered to the project.

Supplies:  Classic Calico Folio; VersaMark Stamp Pad; Zing-mustard; Zing-aqua;  This to That Glue Dot Adhesive; Mister Huey's Ink-Pickle; StazOn Ink-jetblack;American Crafts Pro Pen; Kraft Star Stickers;JBS Ink

I love this embossing technique because it is a fun way to add texture without embossing directly to the project and possibly making a mistake. Have fun and have a great year!!
xo

Vee

Hi SC'ers! I am happy to share with you one of my favorite products from the Studio Calico line-embossed mini albums! I love that they are totally customizable to any color with Mister Huey's or with your favorite ink pads!


On my cover I sprayed three layers of mist ( Gable Green, Shine and Calico White). I am still loving butterflies, especially our mister heuy's butterfly masks! I love how you can see the embossed pattern inside of the larger butterfly, adds an additional area of interest and a nice gradient of color.


I like to pre-make minis for upcoming trips so that it is easier to place photos and memorabilia into the minibook post trip and makes the minibook making process quicker and less tedious. I have a few of those type pages here where journaling,pattern paper, photos and titles can be easily added later because most of the base of the book is already done for you. Once all of my pages are done I will punch two holes along the left side holes and add jump rings to it to bind it together.   These minibooks can be bind with a variety of  SC fabrips as well.
Products used: Calico Diecut Paper; Mister Huey's; Autumn Press Chipboard Alpha; Autumn Press Chipboard Butterflies; White Gel Pen
I hope you enjoyed this additional peek at our new journals and will give them a try soon!

Die Cuts

Hi Everyone!! I love our die-cut tags from the State Fair and Countryside collections. They are an easy way to add pattern, color and shapes to your pagse without having to think about the coordination of pattern papers because Studio Calico has already done that for you! :) One of my most favorite elements of the die-cut tags is using them to make MORE tags.

I did just that with the pennant tags from the Countryside collection by using one as a template. I traced around the shape of the tag in pencil and cut it out with a craft knife (but it can easily be done with scissors too).  By doing this I made two more pennant tags from the largest tag in the package (which I misted with clay Mister Huey's) to add a bit more color and added them to my layout. Now I can save the original for a future project. Another great way to use these tags is to cut them up and use them as typography elements on your projects.
Products: Exclusive Studio Calico pattern paper: August Main Kit- Boardwalk; Countryside and State Fair die-cut tags;  Mister Heuy's (Dewey, Estate Green and Clay), Huey's Mask, Veneer (asterisk); Chipboard Alpha; Studio Calico Butterfly Rubons; American Crafts Precision Pen

I hope you enjoyed these tips and have a few more ideas on how to incorporate die cut tags into more of your projects!
Have a great day, xo

Sunday Sketch

Emily here today with the Sunday Sketch for you. This week we get to lift one of the most delightfully designed layouts I've ever had the pleasure of lifting, AZ Adventure by the mad-design-skills Vee Jennings.


I think you'll agree that Vee and I have very different styles, so I was excited to play with the sketch of her layout. I love that she has a round picture. I really need to do that more. And honestly, it made my photo work on a whole different level. I'd printed it out for another project, but you kind of lost the fact that we were sitting in front of a sculpture of Switzerland's famous little girl, Heidi. When I cropped it into a circle, Heidi became part of the family!

Supplies: State Fair Sideshow patterned paper, State Fair Step Right Up patterned Paper, State Fair Chipboard Alpha, Countryside Picnic patterned paper, Mister Huey's Dark Calico, July 2011 kits Mind the Gap, Pint, and Flat (yellow woodgrain paper, orange mini graph paper, July stamp, brown rick rack trim, and brass buttons), StazOn in Timber Brown, Basic Grey mini alpha, Zig Writer, thread.

 In a nod to Vee's yummy messy style, I first added some splats of Mister Huey Dark Calico to the background. I'm not going to lie. It was hard for me to do. But I thought it only appropriate to try and stay true. I actually love how it frames the body of my layout.

I also adored how Vee's title was so huge. I tried to split up the word "obligatory," but it was hard to read, so I opted to go sideways instead, and I added my own touch by making the word "photo" follow the curve of the picture. 

Finally I love the two triangles Vee used at the top and bottom of her design. That's a touch I never would have thought to do, and I think it's adds a really nice design element. 

Enjoy following this sketch, it has some very unique twists that made it so much fun to play with! Don't forget to link your creation to this thread for a chance to win a $5 gift card from SC.