tutti fruity

for me, the most intriguing yet challenging item in the june kit was probably the maya road fruit beads. they were fun and cute, but how was i supposed to use them on my projects? a lot of DT members shared my feelings about the beads....but looking at the gallery, i think they all rocked them! here are a few ideas on how you can use your beads:



i cut out windows on my page, and let the beads (and the small circles from the heidi swapp gel blossoms) hang from the open space. the beads were the perfect accents for my fruit-themed page.



april put one apple bead in the middle of her journaling. it goes with the page theme perfectly.




davinie, joy, and kirsty all used their beads for non-LO projects and used them as a binding accent. i love davinie's home banner, and joy and kirsty both made the coolest mini-albums!



i absolutely LOVE the way jenn used her beads! love how she covered her tree with the felt flowers, then let the fruits hang from them. brilliant!



steph's barrettes were brilliant and adorable, and i especially love how she used her beads on one of them! so deliciously cute!

time to PARTY!!!

the party has officially started! whoo hoo! :)

i hope you'll join us on the boards as we count down to the reveal of the main kit, add-ons, and design team gallery in just less than 3.5 hours. i promise there will be lots of fun, laughs, and craziness and the time will just fly by!

As a promotion this month, Studio Calico is giving away this exclusive stamp


and used here by Jenn Olson:


and just for fun, change your avatar to something "glamorous" - extra points if you dig out that old prom picture! here's mine from just over 5 years ago -


Vote for your favorite on this thread and the winner will receive a prize pack from American Crafts

see you on the boards!

t-minus....

two (ish) days until reveal night! are you getting excited yet? i am! :)

(by the way, this is caroline and i'm taking over the blog for the week!)

the sneak peeks have been absolutely drool-worthy this month...i can't wait to see the full LOs! in order to make sure that you're not missing any of them, i have decided to compile a master list of peeks for y'all:

april - here, here, here. i especially loooove how she used the apple lace paper. and as usual, i love her use of brilliant little details.

davinie - here, here, and here. in one of her blog posts, dav mentions that this kit is her favorite because of the yummy october afternoon papers, and it's easy to see why - she totally rocked them!!

jenn - here. so, so sneaky. they make you wanting more, don't they?

kirsty - here. i'm loving how she used all the papers and how she's used the apple lace paper as little accents!

nicole h. - here. i'm loving the chipboard tree with the birds and flowers!

nicole s. - here. nic always uses product in the most interesting ways - i love how she wrapped the ribbon around the chip trees and how she used those fruit charms!

steph - here,here, here, and here. holy moly. is steph rocking this kit or what? and how can you not love those barrettes?

tina - here. i can't wait to see that home mini!

last but not least, me - here, and here. i also have one last peek for you:



don't miss all the reveal night festivities on tuesday night! and remember that the kit goes up at 12 midnight on the 28th!

Get Published with Studio Calico

Have you noticed that scrapbook magazines are including kits in the description of items used? Scrapbook Trends is one such magazine in which submissions may include the kit the items came from along with the manufacturers of the products.



Take Stephanie's layout as an example which was published in the May 2008 issue of ST.

We genuinely appreciate those who submit taking the time to mention Studio Calico. To acknowlege that, we are offering a $15 gift card to our subscribers who get published using a Studio Calico kit and indicate such in the product description as shown above.

Just a little something to say, "Thank you," and to help support your add-on splurges!

Upon publication, please send an email to info@studiocalico.com. Please let us know the magazine and issue (or idea book) in which your LO or project was published.

On The Road

Im on the road with work right now which has given me time to reflect on a few matters that I wouldn't have necessarily have had the time for. I guess I've become complacent and so full of routine up until now. I can't tell you the amount of times I have tried to set aside pure "think" time and the chance to open up about what I want from my scrapbooking. I mean, I make pages as a matter of course as the pictures roll off the camera and on to the page. I love that, I really do but as I sit here in my hotel room and reminisce those pages I realised that as much as I adore my daughter, I also love my husband too. But he barely appears on as many pages as my lil girl.
The shame consumed me.
So I go and check out galleries online and notice that the men in our lives are not so obviously apparent. Ok, granted some of us do not have a partner but certainly those girls I do know with "other halves" have just as little proof of their existence too. Is this shameful? Is this ignorance? Is this an oversight? Probably all three!
So its time to pick out those masculine papers, ladies and get that man on a page and celebrate him. That page needn't be about love or friendship; it can be about his routine, his moments, his character. I for one have written a long list of changes I need to make when I get back this weekend and the first photo I will scrap on my return is my man, Mark.
And I have the very papers in mind - some of my leftover 5th Avenue papers from my Studio Calico papers in February.
Come scrap some masculinity with me!

Alpha's extended

I loved Nic's post about using alphas not so long back.
Lets face it, we have a ton of leftovers we can't/don't/won't use but more often than not, we are prone to running out of certain letters; especially if they pertain to repetitive use of our families names. I am forever running out of the letter "e" and "l" (my daughter is called Ellie) so it got me thinking about getting creative with my existing letters.
Below you will find other ways to use dormant letters in your alpha kits. We hope you can now delve back into your alphas stickers today to get the best value out of them whilst they would otherwise be gathering dust.

lower case b - upside down makes a q
lower case c - add a full stop on the middle to make a creative lower case e or add an extra side to make a lower case d
lower case d - upside down makes a p
lower case g - some can be turned upside down to make a b (cut the tail!)
lower case j - can be cut down to a lower case i
lower case m - upside down can sometimes make a w (vice versa)
lower case u or n - can be switched to be either when upside down
lower case x - cut off one leg to make the letter y
upper case A - can be cut to an upper case V
upper case B - can be cut to an upper case P
upper case E - can be cut to an upper case F
upper case G - can be cut to an upper case C
upper case H - can be cut to two upper case I's
upper case P - add a leg to make an upper case R
upper case Q - can be cut to an upper case O
upper case R - can be cut to an upper case P
upper case T - can be cut to an upper case L
uppercase Z - can be turned to an upper case N (vice versa)
upper case V - add a dot to make an upper case A


the number 1 - can also be used as a letter "i" or "l"
the number 3 - can be used as a w or m and indeed capital E(depends how cursive the font is)
the number 4 - can be used as a letter a if you can add the extra leg discreetly
the number 5 - can be used as a letter b if you cut his hat off and put it in front of his belly!
the number 6 - can be used as a spare 9
the number 7 - can be used as an "L" by snipping at the join and rotating to look like a right angled "L"
the number 9 - can be (sort of) used as a letter b and definitely the letter g
the number o - obviously as a letter "o"

I'm sure I've missed a few - can you think of some more? Help spread the alpha love (especially extending the use of those gorgeous American Craft glitter thickers!)

love
Kirsty x

Exciting News

Today is a very exciting day at Studio Calico! First of all... the sneak peek of June's kit and add-ons will post tonight at Midnight EST. Come early to join in the fun on the message board!

Next... today is the day that we welcome Stephanie Howell to the Studio Calico Design Team! As most of you already know, we were sad to say farewell to Christine a couple of weeks ago. But what you didn't know is that long before we held our first Design Team call, April and I invited Stephanie to be an original member of our team. Unfortunately, she was unable to accept the position due to conflicting commitments. We are thrilled to announce that she accepted our invitation the second time around!

Stephanie has been an active member of the Studio Calico community since it's debut. We love her for her heartfelt journaling and her vintage flair. We admire her perseverance and adore her sense of humor. We can't wait to see what she creates with the June kit, but until then... here are some of the layouts she has created with Studio Calico kits, past and present:





We invite you to celebrate with us as we welcome Stephanie to the design team! Today, each Studio Calico design team member is giving away a NEWSSTAND kit on her blog. For your chance to win, simply leave a comment on each blog, with a welcome message for Stephanie. Each designer will draw from the posts on her blog, so be sure to visit them all to increase your chances of winning. (If they haven't updated yet, please check back later!)

Caroline: Pictures & Words
Davinie: My Little Piece of that Azure Sky
Jenn: Evolutions
Joy: Jesus, Family & Scrapbooking
Kirsty: My Daily Blah
Nicole H: Seriously... brains
Nicole S: Nicole Samuels
Stephanie: Just me and my 2 little chicks
Tina: lifeLOVEpaper

Mom's Day cards Galore!

Thanks to my girls for participating in my last minute card challenge! I really appreciate and was impressed by those who participated in this challenge. A special shout out to my fellow DT members who don't all care to create cards! lol I appreciate that you gave it a go.

I saw a lot of great cards in the gallery and thought I'd share the DT cards because I think they gave a lot of great ideas that can be transferred to future layouts.

Of course, April's card was brilliant. She also posted a tutorial on her blog on how she covered those cool Cosmo Cricket blackboard gears. I am very inspired by this one!



This is one of three cards from Joy. Love the stitching over these patchwork squares.



Another fun twist to the patchwork look is what Caroline did with her card. Delicious.


Here's another card from Joy. Look at that flower! Brilliant!

Look at this last one from Joy. Love the stitching. The butterfies! Look at their stapled bellies! Love this idea.

Jenn's card is simple, but full of great ideas. Look, more patchwork squares. Love the scallop border too. Don't have enough O's? Use a chipboard element. Very nicely done, Jenn!

Look what Nik did! I am so proud of Nik. She doesn't like to make cards, but humored me anyway. And look... it's brilliant. LOVE the stitching, and I just love that she used the word Mama. It just adds to the sweetness of this card.

Last but certainly not least is Nic. My challenge was late so she had already mailed her Mom day cards, so she created a friend card. Hey, maybe she'll send it to me! lol Anyway... I love how she filled in the blackboard. Love the green, LOVE the buttons, and I love how she didn't tie off all the buttons. Just a couple. I'm also a big fan of the threading she uses. It doesn't look like DMC floss to me. What is it Nic? This card is simple and super cute.

Before I post the winner of the challenge, I wanted to post my favorite entry from the challenge. I just think this one is SO cute.

Denise. Sweet Denise. This just rocks! First, you need to check out the whole thing in the gallery. It's multi page! Secondly... LoVe the stitching and the scallop border. And I love that you used the chipboard peeps as a template for your paper. This way you can use them over and over again. I just think this card is oh so sweet. So thank you for playing, Denise.

Okay..... Morgan is at school, so I had Payton draw a name. And of course... the poor thing had sticky fingers and drew two people. That is fine by me, because I really, really appreciate all who participated at the last minute. So I've decided to buy Top Ramen for the month for two lucky subscribers. lol The winners are:

SCRAPALLY

and

WALESK

Woot! Ally, your kids are old enough to fix their own ramen, so you have the month off from cooking duties! Maybe next year they will make YOU a card.
Waleska... looks like you were the very first to participate in the challenge, so this is fitting.

Thank you girls! Sneak night is only a day or two away, so you can get an idea of what add-ons you want to apply your $5 to!

Thanks again for playing along! Y'all rock!

:)

Davinie

Mother's Day card inspiration

How are those cards coming along? I know this is a last minute challenge and I apologize for that. But there has to be some last minute girls like myself who still need to get something put together for Mom.

That said, because we are so late in the game and you can't mail a card to Mom in time for Mother's Day, you will be entered in the drawing simply by making a card with an SC kit and posting it this weekend, it being Mother's Day weekend and all. :)

Below is a card I made with February's kit, Sherwood Forest. There's a lot of neat goodies in this kit that are great for cards.





I'll have more ideas later including some examples from some of the DT. Have a great Friday!

A Mother's Day Challenge!

With Mother's Day just around the corner, it seems to me it would be a perfect opportunity for a Mother's Day Card challenge. Even if you've used your kit for 14 layouts, a mini album, and a wall hanging for your entryway, you will still have a little something left to make a card with.

I know we've only got a few more days until Mother's Day, and I apologize. I've been sick as a dog, but you can hear that when I type, can you? Let's just say the snot cometh and it's been almost two weeks since I've heard my normal voice. Anyway....

I challenge you to use a previous kit to make a Mother's Day card. Just upload it to the gallery at SC and link it here on the blog. Make one for your MIL too and you'll have 2 entries. For each card you make I'll enter you in the drawing. Early Monday morning, because my kids don't believe in letting Ma sleep long past the sun's arrival on the horizon, Pacific Time, I'll have Morgan draw a name. That lucky winner will win a $5 gift certificate to SC. Doesn't seem like much, but it could buy you a gallon of milk and a case of Top Ramen noodles so you don't feel guilty about buying just one more add-on on Reveal night. And believe me, you are going to want to buy another add-on for the June kit. Have you SEEN the clue thread? Some delicious guesses there, I must say. :)

Easy enough? I'll be back to post a card or two with a previous kit to give you some inspiration. I'm going to challenge the other DT girls to create something and we'll post those too. Let's make Mom a handmade card. For goodness sakes, make your own card and have the kids sign and give it to you on Sunday, because you deserve it!

Davinie :)

anybody out there a logophile?

I love words. I love using big words, and I love learning new words...here's a few sites I frequent:

dictionary.com

I go here almost every day to figure out how to spell a word...on top of knowing big words I like to spell them right:D

thesaurus.com

If you are trying to spice up your journaling this is the place to go.

word a day emails

Want to expand your vocabulary? This is the place to do it...they'll send you a word every day to increase your word knowledge.

scrabulous

Are you a scrabble player? Do you have a Facebook page? This is a great scrabble like game you can play with people all over the facebook community. Start games with your friends or with total strangers.

free rice.com

With a name like free rice, how could this be about words, but this is my favorite word game site. The premise is this: for every word that you define correctly, the site donates 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Fund. I play this game obsessively some times

Crossword Puzzle

I also love online crossword puzzles...they are great at expanding vocab. I cheat a little and look things up online, but its a fun way to learn vocab and culture references at the same time.

Friday...Time For A Little Extra Encouragement?

It's almost National Scrapbooking Day...are you excited? Have your friends posted to the subscription giveaway thread? I'm really, really looking forward to finding out who the lucky winners will be, it's such a huge prize. Good Luck to everyone!!

While we're on the topic of inspiration, I thought I'd share a few pages from the Studio Calico gallery that I found particulary inspiring this week...

The first one ,by cskuse, called Two of A Kind is just too cool! I love the way she wasn't afraid of the boldly patterned paper and used a boldly sized photo to balance. Did I mention the layering of her journaling and what she did with the little hand die cut? Super goodness!

How about this one by Tiff Harper? I absolutely adore the way she played up the pastels with the embellishments...but truly kept it simple and let the shapes and the sweet photo just shine.

Finally, I want to share one more with you...I thought this was not only adorable, but so inspiring! sdavidson really knocked her chalkboard out of the park--don't you think?

Are you inspired? I certainly am, I need to wrap up here and go scrap!! With all the excitement of NSD, I think we'll extend the deadline to post your ad challenge layouts just a little bit longer...say Monday, May 5th by 9am PST? In case you need a little extra encouragement, here's a sneak peek at the RAK I have for whomever's name gets drawn out the hat!