Studio Calico

weekly challenge | Sasha Farina

Sasha and Dani are here with a scrap recipe challenge! This week, we want you to use these 5 elements on your next project :

• vellum
• yellow (not all yellow.. just a little bit of yellow is fine -as long as we can see it!)
• frame (slide frame, polaroid frame, cameo cut frame - anything!)
• stars
• at least 2 tags

I loved Sasha's fun challenge and realized it would be fun to try it with the Valley High card kit from this month! This kit is a personal favorite of mine and will be revealed on the 27th - I can't wait! You can check out more sneak peeks from the kit here - you won't want to miss this one!

I used the patterned papers and the stamps in the kit. First, I created the card base, then I punched a bunch of vellum stars and glued them to the white cardstock background with Helmar's wet glue, which dries clear. It's a subtle look, but I love it! I cut some frames out of the patterned paper in the kit with some metal dies from my stash. The "hello" stamp is a speech bubble that I stamped and trimmed down. Then to create two "tags", I first used my printer to type out "sweet" and friend" onto patterned paper, stamped over the top with the the sunburst, and punched them out. To create hanging tags, simply punch two of the same shapes and glue them back to back with a piece of string or twine in between.

(Supplies : Valley High card kit, vellum, twine, star chipboard - Studio Calico, white cardstock, star punch - Fiskars,  dies - Papertrey Ink, scalloped circle punch - Martha Stewart, ink - Papertrey Ink)

Here is Sasha's take on the page - I love how she sprinkled the stars down her page! She used vellum as the background of her page, and stacked tags to make a fun layered photo frame.

(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Nantucket, South Hampton & Atlantic Vellum, SC Grid Paper ; Journal Cards : SC Atlantic ; Cork Circle Sticker : SC Atlantic; Cork Chevron : SC Atlantic; Vellum Die Cuts : SC Atlantic; Fabric Bow : SC Atlantic; Geotag Brad : SC Snippets; Staples : Tiny Attacher; Alphabets : SC Snippets Aqua Thickers, SC Front Row Project Life kit; Star die cuts, star sequins and buttons : SC Yearbook; other : buttons, enamel dots, kraft tag) 

Now it's your turn to take on this challenge!! Use our scrap recipe to create a new project, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by July 1st in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

weekly challenge | Marcy Penner and Nicole Harper

This week's challenge is to use a repeating pattern on your page.

From Marcy Penner : I have a hard time with circles, but the whole idea of using repeating circles on this page it emphasis the pile of stone by the culvert was just too perfect to pass up.

I started by layering my photos and papers and then found some circle elements in the Atlantic collection that could accompany circles punched from patterned paper.  Once I had a few I started layering those on in a diagonal pattern and finished it off with some stitching and sequins.

Supply list : paper - plymouth, rock port, bridgeport, montauk, atlantic bundle collection, atlantic 12x12 paper pad, atlantic 6x6 paper pad; sequins - atlantic variety sequin pack; stickers - atlantic sunrise thickets, atlantic glittered star stickers; printables - atlantic printable labels, atlantic digital printable #1 MP; tags - medium white tags; tools - tiny attacher, tiny attacher refills

From Nicole Harper : When we came up with the idea of using repetitive shapes, I was stoked to have a chance to show off my love for the die cut files this month. I resisted adding 'hello...' to every single window of this Project Life layout!! I forced myself to only use 3 of them, as well as 3 of the tab cut files and used the triangle elements on the washi tape as another graphic to repeat.

Supplies: Roundabout PL Kit, Navy Pier kit, Cumberland Gap Kit, Roundabout Printable File, Roundabout Label File, Hello banners Cut File, Roundabout Tabs Cut File, Gold POW Glitter Paper

We can't wait to see how you use repeating patterns! Make a project for this challenge, 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.

weekly challenge | Susan Weinroth & Ashley Cannon Newell

Take out your punches, dies, and cut files because this week is all about using those negative cuts on your projects. You can get so much more out of your punched or cut shapes by using the negative shapes as well, so don't throw those away. Even better - how about you purposefully cut shapes just to use those negative designs. Susan and Ashley have teamed up to take on this challenge.

From Ashley :  I wanted to create a focal backdrop on my card that used a negative shaped images, so I picked my current favorite punch - the mini anchor and punched a few patterned paper strips. I layered the punched paper over contrasting patterned paper. To complete the design, I added the vellum die cut shape and some hemp cord as a border for the patterned paper lines.

Tip: To punch an even anchor design, the first punched image should rest against the punch as you punch the next anchor. Also, save those punched anchor shapes for your next project!

(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Montauk, Portsmouth, Seabrook, Nantucket, South Hampton; cardstock : Studio Calico white; punch : Studio Calico mini anchor punch ; vellum : Studio Calico Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes; hemp cord : Coconut Grove kit)

From Susan : I used the negative of my arrow cut as a foundation for my title.  I added a circle cut around the arrow, and was left with the arrow cut into the circle.  I backed it first with Vellum and then with lime green cardstock (which muted the color).  Then I machine stitched around the edge to finish off the look, before adding title stickers.

(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Atlantic City, Atlantic Montauk, Atlantic Plymouth, Atlantic Vellum; embellishments: Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes; Staples: Tiny Attacher ; other : sequins)

Let's see how you use those negative shapes! Make a project for this challenge, 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.

weekly challenge | Catherine Davis & MaryAnn Perry

Catherine Davis - We love our triangles around here! For this layout, I thought I would incorporate Atlantic papers with triangles and the Roundabout Triangles Digital Template. After masking some of my photos in the 8.5x11 template, I printed it out and added patterned paper on top of the remaining triangles.

I wanted some dimension on this layout, so I made two of the triangles slightly bigger and cut angles on the edges to fold up. Love the effect. I used this same idea on the edges of the background papers as well.

For accents, I cut off points of the Atlantic Glittered Stars to make little sparkly triangles that I placed around the page. A few splatters of Mister Huey's, some white journaling and a punched out anchor finished things off.

P.S. Look at that shine on the Gold Kraft paper. One of my absolute favorite papers ever!

(Supplies -Studio Calico Atlantic Gold Kraft Paper; Plymouth Paper; Scarbourough Paper;Bridgeport Paper; Portsmouth Paper; Atlantic City Paper; Glittered Star Stickers; Mini Anchor Punch; Mister Huey's Silver; Roundabout Digital Triangle Layout Template.)

From MaryAnn Perry - my Project Life Spread I decided to have fun with triangles in a variety of ways. I incorporated both Studio Calico's Atlantic Collection and the Roundabout Kits to create my week 13 in my Project Life Album.

I used the Roundabout Triangles Digital Template for my title card. I printed the 4x6 card as is and cut out the triangles. I then traced & cut the triangles onto various patterned paper from the Atlantic collection and arranged them to my 4x6 card. I used my sewing machine to attach a 4x6 piece of vellum paper above the triangles. 

I used the Roundabout Triangle Cut Design as a png file in photoshop (instead of cutting it on my cameo) so that I could add journaling right on the Design. I printed Weekly Review Triangle as a 5x7 onto transparency paper and then placed the Atlantic Vellum paper behind it. I used the Atlantic thickers for the #13 beside the week. The week in review protector is sandwiched between two design A page protectors. 

On the second part of the layout I used the 3x4 Roundabout digital template and repeated the same process as I did for the title card.

(Supplies - Studio Calico Atlantic Collection: Atlantic Collection Bundle ; patterned paper: Studio Calico Atlantic Atlantic City- 12x12 double-sided paper , Bridgeport - 12x12 double-sided paper , Scarborough- 12x12 double-sided paper , Atlantic 12x12 Vellum, Atlantic 6x6 paper pad , Letter Stickers: Atlantic Rockabye Thickers ,  Studio Calico - SC alphas-gray , 4x6" Alpha Stickers in Vanilla (Basic Grey)  , Embellishments:Atlantic Burnished Circle Wood Veneer , Atlantic Cork Circle Stickers , Atlantic Cork Arrow & Chevron Stickers , Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes, Atlantic Variety Sequin Pack ; Digital Elements: Atlantic Digital Printable #1 , Atlantic Digital Printable #2 , Roundabout Digital Triangle Layout Template by Catherine Davis , Roundabout Triangle Cut Design by Kinsey Wilson ; Journaling Cards: Currents Card Set ,  BlinksofLife Prompt Cards , 4x3 more grid cards ; Page protectors: Photo Pocket Pages- Design A 12 Pack , 5x7 Page Protectors Becky Higgins; Tools: Tiny Attacher, EK Success Large Photo Labels Punch)

For this week's challenge, we want to see YOUR triangle love! Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by June 10th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

-Catherine Davis & Mary-Ann Perry

weekly challenge | Gayatri Murali & Gillian Nelson

This week, Gayatri and Gillian are teaming up to challenge you to break out your watercolors and use them in your paper crafting!

From Gillian Nelson : While I've always considered myself a "crafty" person, I am not confident whatsoever with the "artsy" stuff.  Drawing, painting...stuff like that.  I'm so much more comfortable with paper and scissors than I am with paper and paintbrushes.  But I looooove the look of watercolors and how it's been making such a beautiful splash in the world of scrapbooking.  I wanted to experiment with using water colors on a layout, but I wasn't willing to ruin an entire sheet of paper by painting directly on the background.  The compromise I came up with was to paint smaller portions of paper that I would then add to my layout afterwards.  I started by cutting watercolor paper into strips that were 1.75 inches wide, and then hand cut triangles from the strips.  I painted each individual triangle with a wash of color (most of them pink, with a few yellow triangles thrown in for visual interest).  Once the paint dried, I outlined each triangle with a thin black line and also inked the edges.  Then I adhered the triangles onto another block of watercolor paper, so that the painted color could really pop against more white.  I used adhesive foam under the yellow triangles for more...say it with me...visual interest.

Then I layered the remaining patterned papers, found places to live for the assorted embellishments, and stuck the photo up there at the top.  Done!  

(Supplies -- patterned papers, acetate diecuts: Roundabout Scrapbook Kit; gold washi tape, "enjoy" banner sticker, gold triangle sequins: Coconut Grove Add-On Kit; letter stickers: Outer Banks Add-On Kit; Studio Calico Hello Today Banner; pen: Precision Pen 0.3-Black; ink: StazOn Ink Pad-Jet Black; foam adhesive: This to That Foam Tab Squares; glue: Martha Stewart Glue Pen; other: sequins, staples)

The watercolors were truly a lot of fun, and while I'm not brave enough yet to paint myself a background like some of the gals on our SC team are so adept at doing, I'm really happy with how my watercolor baby steps turned out.  :)

From Gayatri :  Watercolour background is currently trendy. I love the soft blend of colour using the water colours. They make great background and easy to stamp on it. For my project which is a card, I have decided to use this technique both in the background as free flowing colours as well as in a defined space. 

I have used two water colour techniques on this card. For the background, I have used dry on wet technique. I diluted few drops of each of the neon Mr. Huey on an acrylic block and brushed each colour from the top of the card front using a rounded brush. I let it dry. Then I brushed some water on the pink layer and added few drops of pink neon Mr. Huey and let the colour spread and dry on its own.Then I did the same with the yellow followed by the orange. You can see how the colours have blended and beautifully flowed as well. This adds layer of colours.

While the card front is drying, I masked and stamped the balloons from Coconut Grove June Add-On Card Kit stamp set. There is well defined space in each of the balloons to paint the colours. For this I used wet on wet technique here. For each of the balloon, I first wet the area and while still wet, I added colours from one end to give the gradation of colours. I let it dry on its own. This give beautiful shading to the balloons.

While the balloons are drying, I stamped the large sentiment also from the Coconut Grove June Add-on Card kit stamp set on the bottom of the card front. I then cut of the balloons and adhere them to the card front using foam adhesive. 

The neon colours are intense and bright which is perfect for birthday celebrations.

(Supplies: Mister Huey's Neon My Little Pony, Trapper Keeper & Windbreak, Seafoam and Ocean; Coconut Grove June Add-on Card Kit; Archival Jet Black Ink and Stampers Select White from Papertrey Ink; watercolour brush)

We can't wait to see you give watercolors a try!! Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by June 3rd in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

weekly challenge | April Foster and Lisa Truesdell

Hey everyone! This is Lisa Truesdell, and April Foster and I are here with this week's challenge. We're keeping it simple this week - we want you to break out your punches! Even with my Silhouette around, I've still kept most of my basic punches. They're a great way to add a little something extra to any project you're working on.

(Supplies - Lyra add-on; Martha Stewart glue pen; Foam dots; Precision Pen; Glue Glider Pro; square punches)

April gave her square punches a workout on this page - first she punched squares from strips of patterned paper, and then she went back and filled them with words, photos and contrasting paper. She popped the inner squares up on popdots to add some dimension. I love how the squares aren't perfectly lined up on her layout!

(Supplies -Studio Calico Atlantic 6x6 paper pad, cork circles, cork arrows, sequins, 12x12 sticker sheet, glittered stars, star stickers, printables & printable labels; 4x6 More Grid Cards; Planetarium Project Life kit; Darling Dear calendar pockets; punches - Fiskars (circles, star, arrow);other - tiny attacher, washi tape, star clip, date stamps, tags and enamel dots)

I don't always remember to grab my punches when I work on Project Life - but they really are a great fit. Punched paper doesn't add any bulk to the pockets, and it's a fun way to add accents to the empty space on your journaling cards or photos. I stuck with my three favorite shapes - circles, arrows and stars - and repeated them throughout my week.

We can't wait to see how you'll use punches!! Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by May 27th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

weekly challenge | Anna-Maria Wolniak & Natalia Bun

Hi ladies! Anna-Maria and Natalia here to give you a new challenge for your layout and PL spread. I love quotes and it's always been a huge part of my layouts and PL spread. I love it most when I randomly stumble on a quote, something that's exactly what I needed to hear. When that happens, I always remember to screen grab them on my iPhone to use for my next spread or layout.  So for this challenge, we want you to find a quote that you recently found or one that's been on your mind, something that you really feel and definitely worth scrapping about :)

Anna-Maria used this quote for her layout. "Decide that you want it more then you are afraid of it".

(supplies: patterned paper: 'Planetarium' Scrapbook Main Kit, alphabets: 'Orion' and 'Lyra' Scrapbook add-ons, wooden veneers: 'Big Dipper' Scrapbook add-on andAtlantic Burnished Circle from 'Halley's Comet' PL add-on, printables: Planetarium Digital Printable #1 GS, Planetarium Digital Printable #2 MP, Planetarium Digital Printable Fancy Labels, other: Watercolor Transparent Papers, Mister Huey's Shell and Mister Huey's Seafoam both from Atlantic Collection)

I made a Project Life spread and printed out the quote in 4x6" card. I found this quote on Tumblr recently and I thought it's perfect. Life is indeed a balance of the good and bad.

(supplies: patterned paper - Atlantic 12x12 Vellum, South Hampton, Plymouth, New Haven; Bow - Atlantic Fabric Bows; Atlantic Cork Circles Stickers & Arrows; Atlantic Star Stickers; Atlantic Vellum Die Cut Shapes; Thickers - Atlantic Sunrise)

Make a project for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by May 13th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

Thank you!

Natalia & Anna-Maria

weekly challenge

For this week's challenge, we decided to put our sequins to good use and we can't wait to see you do the same!

From Amy : If you didn't feel like sewing down the sequins with French knots, you could just use a long-arm stapler like I did. Another alternative is to use a liquid glue like Glossy Accents. 

(supplies - patterned paper: Studio Calico Snippets 6X6 pad; letter stickers: Sketchbook Thickers; stickers: Sundrifter 6x7; mist : Neverland Scrapbook Kit, Opaque White ; stamps: Sundrifter Love This & Frame & Feathers; ink: StazOn & Hero Arts Shadow Ink; other: sequins) 

From Nicole : I love how sequins can be used in conjunction with 'plain' backgrounds to spruce them up a bit and add some color :)

(Supplies : Snippets 12x12 Sticker Sheet, Printed Chipboard Cameras, Me Oh My patterned paper; Sundrifter 12x12 Sticker Sheet, Sunny Day patterned paper, Here&There San Diego patterned paper, Mister Hueys Gold)

Make a project using sequins, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by April 29th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

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.

weekly challenge

Deb and Leena are here today with a simple challenge for you! This week’s challenge is to create a project (layout, card, project life card, etc.) that includes at least three different alpha stickers

Leena created this Project Life page with a variety of alphas. She used different sizes, colors and types that all work well together for a really fun look!

supplies - patterned paper : Spencer's Card Kit 6x6 Paper Pad; letter stickers : Basic Grey 4x6 Woodgrain & White and Twine & Ink 4x6 Green, chipboard letters - AC Thickers Aqua, Kitten & Patchwork; envelopes - Latte add-on; washi tapes - Daily Grind add-on; enamel dots - Latte add-on; wood veneer - Latte add-on; stamp - Blinks of Life for Studio Calico Today Noted; PL card - Studio Calico Spencer's PL Kit & Latte; printable labels - Spencer's; printable shapes - Spencer's #1 GS

Deb created a layout using a different alpha for each word in her title. She emphasized the word “smile” with the largest alpha.

supplies – cardstock : More White; patterned paper : Studio Calico Spencer’s card kit, Spencer's scrapbook kit; letter stickers : Studio Calico Front Porch Blend add-on, October Afternoon, Studio Calico 34th Street scrapbook kit, Sassafrass; embellishments : Studio Calico Spencer’s scrapbook kit, Spencer's card kit, Spencer's Latte, Spencer's Front Porch Blend; printable label : Spencer’s; stamps : Studio Calico Spencer's Project Life kit, Spencer's card kit, Spencer's Today Noted; sequins : Studio Calico Spencer's Project Life kit; mist : Studio Calico Mister Huey Real Red and Gold; ink : Hero Arts Shadow Wet Cement

Make a project using three different alphabets for this challenge, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Leave us a link to your project by April 15th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.

-Deb Duty & Leena Loh