New Workshops at Studio Calico

January 7, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

Did you see the new workshops that will provide monthly inspiration for the Scrapbook and Documenter kits at Studio Calico?

I wanted to check out what the workshops were about, and I started with the scrapbooking one. This month’s workshop is taught by Paige Evans. I was really inspired by her main kit only lesson, which is based on a loose grid, and I used this technique for my page. Alas, I don’t have the Arendal kit, so I used the November one (Canyonlands) instead.

There are three lessons in each workshop, and each lesson comes with a video – I love it! It’s just the right amount of inspiration to look at your supplies in a fresh way.
I love how my page turned out! I picked all blue and green elements from the kit, laid them out, and that was it. Easy page but I love the result!

After five months strong (June-October), I slacked in my Kill My SC Kit series. Alas, I am not giving up, in fact I resumed using my Canyonlands scrapbooking kit now that December Daily is over and done with. 🙂 Only 3 pages done so far, so I’ve got a ways to go.
Kill my Studio Calico kit is a monthly series I started on my blog to hold myself accountable and use up my kits. My goal is to use up a kit before the next one arrives.

You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

Oh… and I almost forgot to mention the best thing – if you are a subscriber to either the Scrapbook or the Documenter kit, you can sign up to the corresponding workshop for the month of January for free!

Hello Cold Days

January 6, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

It’s been really cold here the past few days!
Today is the day for the weekly Something Old, Something New sale at The Lilypad – 50% off select products, through today. Here’s what I made with some of the products on sale:

Credits:

Every Day of the Week papers and Every Day of the Week elements by Pink Reptile Designs

Winter Goodies Pocket Cards and Embossed Tape Labels by Paula Kesserling

If you haven’t yet, it’s not too late to join the Month of Challenges at The Lilypad!

Lots of inspiration and great prizes!

DIY Double-Sided Leather Traveler’s Notebook Cover

January 4, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

Today I want to share a little DIY project I made last month – a double-sided leather traveler’s notebook.

I am not going to post a step-by-step tutorial because in fact I followed the instructions by the excellent Christine, with just a small change – rather than a regular size traveler’s notebook, I decided to make a passport-sized one. This is my first traveler notebook and I made it with the purpose of carrying it in my bag when I go to work meetings, and I wanted something more compact. The bonus is that from 2 sheets of letter-sized leather I was able to make 2 notebooks, one for me and one for my mom. 🙂

Now… I’m not gonna lie – it took forever to put together (mainly because I didn’t have the right tools to thread the elastic!), but it was worth it – I love how it turned out!

The notebook is double sided, and even though when I bought the leather (these are pretty much the entire color option at Michaels) I thought I’d be using the aqua for the outside, I ended up falling in love with the texture of the brown leather and chose that instead. 🙂
I have two notebooks in my journal.

The notebook on the left was made by me, while the one on the right is a Midori passport – I bought it after the fact, and it turns out that the notebook I made is spot on!
I used yellow copy paper for the notebook made by me and I love the pop of color!

I chose not to bind the notebook and it’s really quite freeing to know I can just get rid of a page if I mess up.

Here’s a closeup of the stitching, which I did with my sewing machine but turning the wheel by hand (I didn’t trust my sewing skills for this project!):

The stitching holds the two pieces of leather together pretty well (in fact the only change I would make in Christine’s instructions is to skip the fabric interfacing step – I found it didn’t really stick properly in my case).
The pretty charm was given to me by my mom a few years ago and is by Thun.

This passport size has been working really well for me, and it made me take the plunge and purchase a full sized traveler’s notebook as well – I would love to try my hand at scrapbooking in that size, so stay tuned… 😉

Sketch Your World

January 3, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

I am so excited for the new class at Studio Calico: Sketch Your World! It starts Feb. 1st.

Here’s the description:

Expand your creativity! Olya Schmidt takes you on a creative journey filled with practical tips and simple techniques that will help develop your drawing and watercolor skills. Olya will introduce you to the various tools and materials needed to start sketching different scenes and bringing them to life with watercolor paint. You’ll also learn plenty of basic exercises to get you more comfortable using pencils, pens, and brushes to capture the world as you see it!

A few years ago I took an online art class that I absolutely loved – it was my first attempt at drawing and watercoloring. At the time, I made a couple things I was really proud of, but didn’t do much at all after the class was over. Here they are:

I am really excited to get back to drawing and painting with the Sketch Your World class! This is just the push I need to play with colors again! And Olya is such a talented artist!

Over the years, I have amassed some favorite watercolor supplies, including Neocolors II, Peerless watercolors (currently sold out at Studio Calico but you can find them on Amazon too) and Kuretake Gansai Tambi. I don’t own this little travel-sized Koi set, but I just might have to try it out! 🙂


Neocolor II	Kuretake Gansai Tambi	Peerless	Koi watercolors

I hope to see you in class!

2016 Resolutions

January 3, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

I don’t normally do new year resolutions (I hate letting myself down!), but this year I was inspired to jot a few things down when I started creating with the January Memory Pockets Monthly: CHAPTER collection from The Lilypad.

Credits:

Memory Pockets Monthly: CHAPTER from The Lilypad

Do you make new year resolutions?

Studio Calico Arendal Shopping

January 1, 2016 | cristina

Here’s what I bought this month at the Studio Calico Arendal reveal:

In addition to my Documenter subscription, I bought some stamps sets. I am so excited for the Moon and Back stamp set! Also, the Encouragement stamp set looks so versatile – I can’t wait to watercolor those flowers!

I also grabbed another mini stapler, for two reasons: 1) it’s gold! and 2) it will come in handy to hold my colored staples!

Studio Calico January Kits

January 1, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

Today is Reveal Day at Studio Calico for the January (Arendal) kits. I am not contributing this month, and while I have to wait (not-so-patiently) for my box to arrive, I decided to play with the digital products.

For my digital page, I used the scrapbook papers, the Documenter kit cards, and some printables.
I just love the colors this month! Later today I’ll be sharing my picks for this month of what is coming in my box along with my Documenter kit.
Come chat with us at 11 AM EST for Subscriber Presale chat (kits+add ons are on sale at noon EST for subscribers) and again at 2 PM EST (3 PM EST is shopping time for everyone).

Happy New Year

January 1, 2016July 23, 2017 | cristina

Happy New Year! May 2016 be a year of health and joy for you and your loved ones!

To start the year off right, I scrapped with the January BYOC (Build Your Own Collab) from The Lilypad.

It’s just amazing – I am so not a purple lover, but whenever there is purple in the collections for The Lilypad, somehow I fall in love with it! It happened this time too.