Paper

December Daily 2015: Title Page

| cristina

This is my sixth year putting together a December Daily album, and for the first time I’ve bought a December Daily kit from Ali Edwards. I also got a mini kit. Not that I needed any Christmas product, since my stash was quite full already, but I just couldn’t resist. 🙂 I am using a 6″x8″ ring album.

I started working on the album this past week, and today I want to share with you my title page – I love how it turned out!

I ended up layering 2 pages for my “title page”, since I loved them both so much and didn’t want to pick. 🙂

The first layer is a page protector with 2″ square slots, that I filled with bits and pieces.

I filled the pockets so that there’s something pretty to see on either side of the page. The stitching is a bit messy – I do not own a Fuse tool, but I think it would have made wonders for this page.

The second layer of my title page builds on one of the awesome transparency sheets in the December Daily kit – I love how thick it is! I added some acetate letters that I had saved from my October Wink Wink Studio Calico kit for this reason, some puffy alpha stickers from Studio Calico, and the rubber “December” was cut from one of the banners included in the December Daily kit.

As a backdrop for this page, I have a page protector with two 4″x6″ slots with one of the papers from the kit that I absolutely love.

And here are all the layers stacked together. It makes me so happy to see this when I open my album!

My days 1-4 are done and photographed, so they will be posted on this blog very soon. Have a merry December!

Kill My Studio Calico Kit: October – Wink Wink

| cristina

Hello and welcome back for another month of Kill My Studio Calico Kit! I have to admit last month I was a bit out of steam, but this month’s kit really inspired me to just have fun and create.
Like last month, I only got the Studio Calico scrapbook main kit, Wink Wink ($34.99). There was only one thing I loved in the embellishment add on kit so I passed.

Notes: I certainly do better with bold colors, and this kit has plenty! I love the plastic letters, the puffy asterisks, and the chipboard circles.

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.

Status: killed!
I made 11 layouts (10 12″x12″, 1 8.5″x11″), for a total of $34.99, or $3.19/page. I supplemented the kit with some cardstock from my stash, stamps, and the odd embellishment. Here’s a roundup of all the pages I made:

And here is what I have left:

Leftovers: I very nearly didn’t kill this kit.  I ran out of time. I was gone for a couple of weeks in the past month on travel so I made the best I could do, and was almost ready to move on to the next kit, but then inspiration hit and I made 3 more pages and officially killed the kit. The pink card stock just didn’t work for me with this kit, so in my stash it goes. I hoarded some of those puffy stickers 🙂 because I didn’t want to use them all up at once.

And here is what I made with the kit.

The die cut paper (the specialty paper for this month) is so much fun! I love that blue paper, and I arranged the strips of paper to be a bit wonky to add some fun to this page. This is my favorite page this month!

I arranged my circles/shapes in rainbow order and watercolored the patterned paper to match. I added the journaling at the bottom of the page after the picture was taken (it’s a bit personal), as well as a title with the black alpha letters on top of the patterned paper – they are a great addition to ground all the pops of color on this page.

I love that blue color!

I watercolored the tag but you can no longer see the embossed camera (or barely) so I wouldn’t recommend it unless that’s the effect you’re going after.

I love the fun colors of the acetate alpha in the kit!

I recently bought a tag die and I am having fun making tags from patterned paper!

On this page I used a few leftover embellishments from past scrapbook kits (Galileo – puffy sticker, heart die cut; Fairground – word strips; Brimfield – washi strip, chipboard phrases).

That diamond paper is one of my favorites this month. I prefer the black on white side, but I thought the white on black side worked best on this page.

The label and puffy stickers are from my stash. I also used the stamp from the November kit (love it!).

This is a 2-pager. I couldn’t bear cutting up or covering that lettered paper, so a 2-pager it is. 🙂

And that wraps up this month! Are you enjoying this blog series? Do leave me a comment if you are.

You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

December Daily 2015

| cristina

Is it too early to think about Christmas? I think it is… but at the same time I couldn’t resist get some of my Christmas supplies out to scrap a tradition of years past using some of the latest December Daily products by Ali Edwards.

The icons I used on those 9 circles come from the December Daily Icon Digital Stamp. And since they are digital brushes, I could make them exactly the size I needed for my page. I also added colors to some of them in a traditional Christmas scheme.

I added some of my oh-so-hoarded Christmas embellishments, and the page was done.

I love how it turned out!

Kill My Studio Calico Kit: September – Brimfield

| cristina

For September I only got the Studio Calico scrapbook main kit, Brimfield ($34.99). I didn’t like the look of the embellishment add on kit this month so I passed.

Notes: I love the color scheme, even if it doesn’t quite fit with my fall palette. The kit only has 2 pieces of card stock (one of which, the kraft one, is non my fave at all) so I had to grab a few extra pieces from my stash. It also has only one alpha, with single letters – luckily I had in my stash the Laina alpha stamp that matches it perfectly. I loved the paper with the birds, the acetate shapes, the enamel dots and stars, the transparency with the stars and the roller stamp. The little deer embellishment is really tiny, but very cute. The chipboard phrases are nice but the mint color isn’t my fave — however, I used them a lot and I loved adding them to my pages!
The floral paper and especially the floral map are not really my style.

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.

Status: killed!
I made 12 layouts (10 12″x12″, 1 8.5″x11″ and 1 9″x12″), for a total of $34.99, or $2.92/page. I supplemented the kit with some cardstock from my stash, stamps, and the odd embellishment. Here’s a roundup of all the pages I made:

And here is what I have left:

Leftovers: almost nothing, really.. One of the washi strips, some scraps of paper, some letters, a few chipboard phrases, a piece of the star transparency and a couple of enamel shapes.

And here is what I made with the kit, from beginning to end.

I noticed a fun pattern in my scrapbooking habits – more often than not, the very first page I make has my least favorite paper. In this case, it was that kraft card stock, way too dark for my taste. But it worked just right with these pops of color! I used the month roller stamp to create some pattern and fill in my page.

I love those acetate birds!

I incorporated the lovely chipboard phrases in my journaling.

The star transparency was great to work with!

This page goes with the previous one.

To be honest there isn’t much from the Brimfield scrapbook kit on this page – only the pink strips of paper, the phrase strip and the “september” stamp (the acetate shapes are from the PL kit), but I am counting it anyway.

For this page I cut into the bird paper – my fave! – and I love how it turned out!
This month it’s harder than usual for me to pick a favorite page, but I think this is it. I just love the colors!

I wasn’t a fan of the floral pattern, but it turned out to be just the perfect backdrop for this photo of me and my grandpa. I love this page so much.

And with this page I almost used up the entire bird paper. Kudos to me for not hoarding it! 🙂

As I already said, I was not a fan of the floral map paper. But it worked OK to document this memory from our spring travels. This is a 9″x12″ page.

I pretty much used up all the remaining paper scraps on this page! I also used the chipboard ‘frame’ that surrounded the chipboard phrases. I had cut off some of the empty space on some of the phrases, and used those pieces here to stamp some little phrases. I love how this page turned out

The very last page I made used up the last few scraps I had left – most of the washi strips, and some enamel shapes. All the other embellishments, plus the watercolor piece painted by me, and the paper are from my stash.

This was a very productive month, I felt I really stretched the kit quite a bit. Time for October’s kits now!

You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

September Art 2 Heart

| cristina

Wilna Furstenberg started a year-long workshop this month, and even though my attention span is typically very short, I decided to sign up for it. I love her style very much, I love watching her videos, and I liked the idea of this year-long creative journey.

I have made two pages so far inspired by Wilna’s pages and message. I tend not to journal much on my scrapbook pages (not sure why.. I journal tons on my Project Life, and quite a bit on my digital pages), but this page is mostly journaling, inspired by some recent successes (& added responsibilities) at work.

I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors for the background and paint splatters (love them!!).

I gessoed + watercolored the background.

And then I made one of my favorite pages ever. I am not a scrap lifter, I always like to do my own thing, and even when I use sketches I often just use them as a starting point. So the fact that I have made this page very much based on Wilna’s example is really telling of how much she has inspired me. It was the sneak of this page that made me decide to sign up for the class!

The background was done again with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. I was going to go with a black and white photo, but then I found this picture of me that I had printed (and cut up and then not used) for another project, and I loved how nicely the colors matched my page. I journaled about the things I dream of. It turned out to be fantastic motivation for me! And the colors… oh how I love these colors!

I am so glad I embarked on this journey!

A Monochromatic Page With A Title That Pops

| cristina

I rarely make monochromatic pages (I love mixing colors too much I guess!), but it felt just right for this page.

For the pretty die cut title, I combined 3 of my favorite techniques: die cutting, embossing and watercoloring. I used digital brushes by Ali Edwards, cut them with my Silhouette out of Canson XL watercolor paper, and then I silver embossed it and watercolored it.

I am super sad that my term on the Ali Edwards Digital Creative Team is coming to an end. To say I have loved being part of the team doesn’t even come close to how awesome it’s been. I am so happy to have made weekly projects that I absolutely LOVE. Thanks you Ali and Katie for having me, and thanks to all my fellow team members for constantly amazing and inspiring me!

Kill My Studio Calico Kit: August – Pop Art

| cristina

Since my September kit (Brimfield) is arriving soon to my door, it’s time to tally up what I made with the August kits. I bought a lot in August. In addition to the Studio Calico August scrapbooking kit, Pop Art ($34.99) I also purchased the Hockney embellishment kit for a promotional price of $17.99 and Stephanie’s mini book kit ($35.99 after rewards member discount – quite pricey but there were a couple of things in the kit that I really wanted).

Notes: I love the bright colors of this month. In the main scrapbook kit, I love the washi tape (love it!!), the specialty paper with the gold scratch off dots, and the acrylic circles. Not a fan of the stamp. The big alpha cards are really cool too. In the embellishment kit, I love the puffy plus signs, the enamel dots, the acrylic houses and the stamp. Not sure what to do with the “on point” card, but overall I love every single bit in this add on. In the mini book add on, I love the stamp, the frames, the floral paper, the gold dot paper and the enamel dots.

Status: killed
I made 16 layouts and 1 mini album with this kit (13 12″x12″, 3 8.5″x11″ and 0 9″x12″), for a total of $88.97, or $5.23/page (I counted the mini as 1 layout even though I have used up supplies for at least 2 pages in it). I supplemented the kit with some card stock and paper scraps from my stash, stamps, and the odd embellishment, as well as bits and pieces from the Pop Art card and Project Life kits.

Here are the bits and pieces I have left:

LEFTOVERS

Leftovers: 2/3 of the specialty paper, the lavender card stock (I tried using it more than a couple of times, but it just didn’t work and I ended up leaving it — I will use it for some cards), the “on point” card (I am not familiar with this expression so I am setting it aside for now), some washi tape (love love love!! – not pictured because it’s on my desk), a few embellishments, an almost full sheet of alpha, some leftover letters, and some paper scraps.
I certainly could create at least another 2 pages with these bits, but I am ready to move on. I’ve been neglecting my Project Life lately!

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.


And here is a walk through my pages
This is the first page I made this month:

The kits come with a handy 4″x6″ card that has the name of the month on the front and suggested color combinations on the back. When I pulled the card out of the bag and put it next to the papers, I loved the pop of color so I decided to use in on my page.
I also used a couple of cards and a rubber lemon from the Project Life kit.

The second page I made is probably my favorite this month. I love all the little details in the boxes, the split He|She design and the little tidbits about us.

While I was waiting for my kit to arrive, I looked online at the pictures of the content and was stumped by this paper with the big 8. But then I realized this year marks 8 years that we’ve lived in this town, and I wanted to make a page about that. I dug out those plastic letters from the Poet Society kit. I love them! I gave a slight pink tint to the white acrylic house with alcohol ink. I added the star stamps as an afterthought and I am still not sure if I like them or not (but there’s no going back..). And yay, I got LOTW (layout of the week) at Studio Calico for this page!

I wanted to use this bold paper as a background, and I felt that I could only make it work if I added something bolder – enter the gold paint and silkscreens! 🙂 The labels, glitter heart and wood veneers are from my stash.

This one is my 2nd favorite page of the month. I never use frames (not even in my digital pages!), but I played with these ones from the mini kit add on and I love how they turned out! I backed one with a PL card and the other with patterned paper.

Block design and gold – a great combination! I was seriously tempted to hoard that 8″x8″ gold foil polka dot on white paper, but I cut into it to make this page and I am glad I did!

For this page I cut up one of the papers that said “together is my favorite place to be” and used the letters to spell out “my favorites”.

I was a bit stumped by the square chipboard pieces from the embellishment kit (Hockney). But then when I paired them with digital designs from Ali Edwards’s Digital Story kit for August (Build), they were perfect!

I used just a small piece of that floral paper by Crate Paper (from Stephanie’s mini album kit), but I love it so! Also paired with a few digital brushes from the Build Story Kit by Ali Edwards that I printed directly onto the kraft background and my photo.

This was a fun page to make. And it also shows why I can stretch my kits so far, using only scraps of paper. 🙂 I just added some labels from my stash.

I love pink and yellow! I added a screenprint (“I love us”) and some hand stitching. Dressing up the kittens with bows was fun! The pink flower paper was from my stash. I used distress paint with the screen print (so easy to use!) and used it also to stamp the “let’s celebrate” and the cats.

The alphabet in the Pop Art scrapbooking kit has only 1 character of A-Z plus numbers. So I had to get creative to stretch them further.

For this page, I wanted to list the happy moments from this summer. It’s been a rather stressful period work-wise, and I want to remember all the good things that have happened too.

After using up the acrylic numbers, I used the negative shape on this page. And I highlighted the number 16 using enamel dots. I splurged and bought 2 Hero Arts ombre ink pads lately and I love them! Here I used the mint to green one.

On this page I cut up three journaling cards and also used two 3″x3″ from the Pop Art Project Life kit. The background paper and alphas are from my stash.

I finally got myself to cut into the specialty paper. The gold dots are actually scratch off, but I loved the finish so much that I left them unscratched. 🙂 The vellum and doilies are from my stash.

And that’s it! It certainly had been a productive month, that’s for sure! I felt the pressure to create a lot of layouts since I had bought so much, but in the end they all came naturally. I am happy to move on though!
If you enjoy this monthly series on my blog, please leave me a comment and say hi. 🙂

You can subscribe to the Studio Calico Scrapbook kit here.

Time for Fall

| cristina

It’s been unseasonably hot around here lately, but everything else feels like fall. And the new Time for Fall brush set by Ali Edwards is perfect to document this time of the year!

I love the red/green combo I went with for my page. I added the “time for apples” brush on top of my photo and printed them out on my printer.
What does fall taste like in your part of the world?

Build Digital Story Kit

| cristina

The theme for Ali Edwards’s Digital Story kit for August is Build. And I was inspired to make two hybrid pages with it today. I combined them with my Studio Calico kits from this month (Pop Art).
For the first page, I printed some of the Build digital brushes onto white card stock. I tried feeding the paper through my typewriter but I couldn’t get it through, so I typed my journaling on copy paper and pasted it there.

Just yesterday I got the news of a big work success I achieved, and this is how I chose to document it.
Here are a couple details:

The next page is all about pretty paper and embellishments. I love that floral paper from Crate Paper!
The design was 100% inspired by that big cross from the Build kit. I colored it navy and printed it on my kraft background, along with the title (This Is What It’s All About). I also added a brush on top of my photo.

I paired this page with my favorite embellishments this month – gold washi tape and puffy plus stickers. 🙂 I can’t believe I had not scrapbooked this lovely family photo yet!

I hope you’re having a great weekend!

(and these are pages 8 and 9 with my kit this month.. yay!)