Author: cristina

Preview the Studio Calico October Kits: Story Board

| cristina

Hello and happy Thursday! Today is Preview day at Studio Calico (the kits are released on the 1st of October, but we have some sneaks to share today, and subscribers can purchase some of the new products at a discount and have them added to their kit box with no  additional shopping cost).

This month, I received the Story Board Documenter kit, and a Christmas stamp and paper pad. I was inspired to get my projects done right away, and I love how they turned out!

Here is an in-progress shot from when I was putting together a Project Life title card.

There are some cool chipboard shapes and gold alpha stickers included in the Documenter kit.

The colors of the kit are really pretty!

Here is a sneak at a sentiment on the stamp set – it’s a 3″x4″ set.

This has got to be my favorite thing I made this month – I layered a journaling card with some of the transparencies and the die cut numbers in the kit. I am using this in the title page of volume 2 of my Project Life album.

A few of the cards have gold foil details, which I always like. I also love the couple of handwritten cards.

Here I also used the mega date stamp to add the months.

The kit also comes with some phrase strips (gold foil on blue) and two flair badges.
Next, on to the cards I made:

The Christmas stamp set is truly gorgeous!

I tried out a few different designs, and it looks like it will be very easy to get my Christmas cards done this year!

This was a fun card to make – the background is all made with color theory dye inks, blended. Then I embossed on top.

And that’s it for me!
You can view more sneaks of the kits and deals here. See you on the first for the full reveal! I shot an unboxing video too that I will be sharing at that time.

Lettering and Calligraphy

| cristina

In the past several months I have added one new crafty obsession to my already long list: lettering! I am really enjoying this journey, and while I have been focusing on brush lettering, I have also started to learn nib calligraphy through a class at Studio Calico. Now, the intermediate class is coming out:

CALLIGRAPHY 2

Ready for even more exciting ways to spice up your handwriting? Calligraphy artist Maghon Taylor of All She Wrote Notes is back for another look at how to create your own unique hand-lettered projects! Maghon delves deeper into the art of calligraphy by sharing more advanced techniques for creating your own uppercase alphabet and adding the perfect details to your lettered pieces. Plus, you’ll learn plenty of tips and tricks for using gouache and other supplies to create projects bursting with one-of-a-kind flair!
Note : You’ll be using skills taught in Calligraphy 1 in this class. If you missed out on Calligraphy 1 earlier this year, please check out the Calligraphy Bundle for a chance to enroll in both classes at once. 
Class will begin October 18th, 2016!

If you haven’t taken the first class, you can sign up for the class bundle, and pick up this starter kit. Here’s an example of alphabet I wrote out in that class:

So far I have only used black ink with nib calligraphy, but I cannot wait to try out these media:

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White Windsor & Newton gouache Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridescent Copper Gold

See you in class! This is one class I won’t miss for sure!

Wednesday Pages

| cristina

Hello and happy Wednesday! I have a couple pages to share made with products from The Lilypad (half off today!!).

Fall is nearly here, and it’s time for me to start working on my 2017 calendars! Since 2009, I’ve been making calendars as Christmas gifts for our parents, and this year Scrapping with Liz just made my life easier with her new calendar templates!


Credits:
Simple Calendar Topper Templates by Scrapping with Liz

I also made a page using this kit that was meant for family trees/heritage photos, and I pulled out one of the old photos of my grandparents from when they had just met.

Credits:
September 2016 Template Challenge – template by Just Jaimee
Roots kit by Dawn Inskip

These old photos are probably my most precious possession. For many years, I didn’t have access to them, until a few years ago my mom was able to track them down. My grandparents were the best grandparents a child could have, and I love them so much. Seeing these photos makes me wonder what kind of life they were dreaming of back then…

Studio Calico September 2016 Lost River Kits – Unboxing

| cristina

Hello! This month I am trying something new – I filmed an unboxing video of my September Lost River Documenter kit and Planner kit from Studio Calico.

I was curious about some of the items in the kits, such as the sticky notepad in the Documenter kit and the smartphone pad in the Planner kit, and I thought showing them off in a video was more effective than just the pictures they gave on the website. They’re both really nice!

I recently got set up with a cheap but very handy holder for my phone to film videos, so this may be something I keep coming.

September Kits from Studio Calico – Lost River

| cristina

Hello and happy September! Today is reveal day for the September kits at Studio Calico (Lost River) and for the 9th month in a row I’ve made some pages using the new digital releases. I paired them up with embellishments from my stash. I was on a roll this month and ended up making 3 hybrid pages last night!

The first one I made is probably my favorite of them all. It’s 8.5″x11″. I printed one of the digital papers on an 8.5″x11″ sheet of matte photo paper, along with a digital stamp that I used for my title (I made it hot pink, because it’s one of my favorite colors ever!).  I had saved that scrap of floral paper from last year (it’s a favorite for sure!!) and then I added embellishments in matching colors. Happy happy!

On this page, I printed the floral frame from this set in blue onto a sheet of patterned paper (cut to 8.5″x12″ to fit into my printer). Then I added some brush lettering in it – this may be my first time using hand lettering on a page, but it won’t be the last for sure! 🙂 Then I added some little envelopes to hide my journaling. The scrapbook kit this month has some little kraft envelopes so I wanted to use something similar from my stash. If you’re curious, the papers and some of the embellishments I used here come from an oldie but goodie – the Antiquary scrapbook kit.
I made this page because I needed the reminder. I’ve been feeling a bit down lately so I resorted to what I do best – scrap therapy!! 🙂

For this last page, I did most of the work on the computer before printing. First, I combined two digital papers – the one with the trees that is my favorite this month!, and the woodgrain one. I also cut out one of the circles from the specialty paper and added it to the background (I was going for a sun effect.. does it look like a sun to you? :)). Then, I cut out one of the lettered sentiments from one of the papers and turned it pink (because.. pink!). Then I also made my title using the Nick alpha. Once my background was ready, I printed it out on an 8.5″x11″ sheet of matte photo paper, added my photo and a couple of embellishments, and I was done.

And that’s that for this month. Happy reveal day! What are you buying, if anything? I’ve got my eyes set on the mini Laina alpha stamp set (here’s the digital version).
I have the original 6″x8″ version (plus the accompanying numbers… I hope they make some for this set too!) and I love it! This 3″x4″ set will be perfect for Project Life/planners!

Classes

This is also going to be a great month for classes!
I cannot wait to dig into the new kit workshops for this month! There’s a workshop for each of the scrapbook, documenter and planner kits, and you don’t have to be a subscriber to take the workshop. This month’s teachers are Geralyn Sy (Documenter), Lisa Truesdell (Scrapbook) and Rachel Lim (Planner) – also starting this month there will be additional projects from the CT in the workshops, I can’t want to check them all out!

Also, the 5th class in the Mini Book Library is open – it’s taught by Karen Baker and it’s about making a 5″x7″ binder album. I cannot recommend the bundle enough though – I love the mini book I made from Lisa Truesdell class on traveler’s notebooks!

MINI BOOK WORKSHOP 2016 

| KAREN BAKER

Celebrate good times! Karen Baker heads up this fifth class in the 2016 Mini Book Library series with inspiring ideas for documenting life’s milestones. Karen uses a premade binder album to create a mini book that allows you to focus all your creativity on the most important part: the story inside. You’ll discover plenty of tips and techniques for filling your album with photos, embellishments, keepsakes, and more that perfectly highlight life’s best moments.
Also, the latest installment in the Day by Day 2016 bundle starts next Monday – Everyday Photography with Marcy Penner.

DAY BY DAY | EVERYDAY

 PHOTOGRAPHY

Get snap happy! Marcy Penner is here to show how to capture more of your everyday story in your photos. Marcy’s tips and tricks will help you unleash your inner photographer and inspire you to get creative with how you document your daily memories. You’ll discover fun and simple ways to set up your shots, edit photos on your phone, and organize them so that you can always find what you need. To wrap up the class, Marcy will share some creative ideas for using your photos in a Documenter spread!

Finally, I am super intrigued by the Cut and Paste class:

CUT and PASTE

Create your own unique work of art with just bits of paper, scissors, and words! In this class, Katie Licht shares her passion for transforming a blank journal page into a masterpiece of colors, layers, and patterns. Katie’s tips and techniques will help you discover how to unlock your creative potential and see how easy it is to use paint, paper, and more to create meaningful art journal layouts!

This class also comes with a free stamp set (while supplies last) so check it out! I can’t wait to get my paints out for this class!

Around the World

| cristina

Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs have put together an awesome Project Mouse: Around the World collection – 11 countries are represented! You can also purchase the countries individually if you want.

Credits:

Project Mouse (World): Italy by Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs

I pulled out some of my travel photos to use with this collection.

Credits:
Project Mouse (World): Italy by Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs
Project Mouse (World): Japan by Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs
Project Mouse (World): Morocco by Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs

Such happy memories!

Credits:

Project Mouse (World): China by Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs

Here are some details:


I added some stamping too using the Asia stamp set.

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Sale at The Lilypad

| cristina

Hello and happy (almost) Wednesday! I interrupt my non-stop viewing of the Olympics to share a page I made with some products that are 50% off for the SOSN (Something Old, Something New) sale at The Lilypad.

Credits:
Oh So Blessed {Dressed Down} by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs


I had so much fun making this page! I used some of the brushes in the kit as masks for the papers, and used them to embellish the background.

Kill My Studio Calico Kit: March – Homespun

| cristina

Hello and welcome back for another month of Kill My Studio Calico Kit! This is the 9th installment of this series, and in total I have made a whopping (112) layouts. Yay me!
This month I bought the Studio Calico scrapbook main kit, Homespun ($34.99). I also got the Asia stamp and die.

Notes:  I have to be honest. I did not like the look of the kit, and even in person it didn’t speak to me. Hence, it has been sitting there for the past 5 months. I think the problem was that the side A of the papers didn’t appeal to me, yet once I got myself to use it, I found that the side B was much more to my taste. Once I started using the kit, I got into the groove and, while it’s still probably my least favorite kit ever, I love the pages I made. Also, the silkscreen is really cool, I love it! And the alpha is awesome, there are so many letters!

Kill my Studio Calico kit is a monthly series I started on my blog to hold myself accountable and use up my kits. You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

Status: killed!
I made 9 layouts (1 12″x12″, 8 9″x12″), for a total of $34.99, or $3.89/page. I supplemented the kit with several embellishments from my stash, since I really need to put a dent in it. I also used some stamps and cardstock for a couple pages. Here’s a roundup of all the pages I made:

And here is what I have left:

Leftovers: the kit is most certainly killed. I have some seasonal items leftover (the wooden “March” and the March transparency, which I likely will use in next year’s Project Life album. I also  still have lots of letters left.

And here’s a roundup of all the projects I made:


And here they are, one by one.

I made this page as soon as I got the kit, and I love it! I only used the silkscreen+paint, alpha stickers, puffy stickers and stamp from the kit. The papers were from my stash, and the flowers are by Wilna Furstenberg. Anyway, I love love love how the page turned out. Alas, after this the kit just sat there, until this week. 🙂 What is really sad is that even though I made this page 5 months ago, I am in the exact same spot at the moment – sigh…
Anyway, the remaining pages were all made this week. I decided to make 9″x12″ layouts for my travel album, and I think this kit was a great fit for these photos. I also used several sketches from the Summer of Sketches class that is going on at Studio Calico (enrollment is closed). I don’t have a particular plan for the album because I already documented this trip in detail in last year’s Project Life album, but since it was the trip of a lifetime and I took hundreds of photos that I love, I have plenty of stories to document in this format.
At first I wasn’t sure how to use the rubber animals in the kit, but then I realized I had the perfect way to use the sheep for this title page in my travel album. 🙂 I also used the Asia craft die and the mega date stamp.
The quilt paper was my least favorite in the kit, but it grew on me a bit; here, I used it for the background and covered it up with the vellum, and also added some foam dots in between to make the background even fainter. I love the end result! Then I piled on the embellishments – all from my stash except for the rubber animals, which I thought worked great on this page about food. 🙂
I love the colors of this page! (the blue embellishments and the “adventure” stamp are from my stash). This wood paper was my favorite this month.
On this page I documented a few of my breakfasts on this trip. I created a grid using some patterned paper and the transparencies that are in the kit. The fabric patch and vellum alpha are from my stash. I also used embellishments from the Finch add on.


I used the silkscreen on a piece of the gray cardstock with two shades of green paint. This screen is very sticky so it tore off some of the cardstock, but I covered it up with the kraft sticker. I added a few embellishments from the Finch add on and from my stash.

I had fun making this page. I used the transparencies to ground my photos.

I love how this page turned out! I used a journaling card (which I punched out and cut up) and some stickers from the Pocket documenter add on.

And here is the last page I made to use up the last few scraps (background cardstock is from my stash). This page didn’t photograph very well, but I love how it turned out. I used some trim from my stash to match the colors in the photos. I used the silkscreen on vellum (which works well because it’s very slick so the screen doesn’t stick too much) with silver paint. Those transparencies from the kit went a long way, I loved using them!

And that’s it for this month! If you have any questions, please leave a comment and let me know!

You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.