Sneak Night Giveaway!!!

To win this fabulous prize worth $48.00, just leave a comment on this post. Let us know whether or not you've ever used Maya Mists before.

Winner will be announced at 12:00am EST on 3/14 (just as sneaks are posting, see countdown to the right). We've had lots of unclaimed prizes lately, so please sign up for email updates to this blog (via the Feedburner link to the right).

All mists will be available in the Studio Calico shop on reveal night (3/27), so be sure to stock up since they'll ship free with your main kit purchase.

Gallery Hop

Last Friday night, Studio Calico opened it's doors to the public for the first time for a Gallery Hop benefiting Very Special Arts of KY. Normally, this gallery hop only includes local businesses who specialize in paintings, photography, sculpture, and other traditional art forms, so we felt very privileged to be asked to participate in showing scrapbooking as an art form.

Because we're not normally a gallery, we had to do a lot of rearranging for the event. We moved all the shelving to a side room so that the wall space would be clear to display layouts, graciously sent by design team members.
Stephen's (our graphic designer) wife, Hannah makes these sock monsters, so she came to peddle her wares :)
Above, some loose items for sale.
Tina's beautiful TTV photos were up for sale and they definitely drew attention. If you've never seen them in person, there's no way to get the full effect of their quality. I can't tell you how beautiful they are, so you'll just have to buy one to find out for yourself :)

Actually, I bought a couple myself and I plan to buy more of her seasonal prints, since they're the same size, then switch out the photos to help make my house more festive around the holidays.
More layouts hung. This is the spot Lorie and Cara normally pack kits, so you can see the tables are gone and there's actually a wall back there :)
In Scarlet's office, we expanded the table to display a March kit and some stamps.
I had planned to make refreshments, but due to the move and a closing date that was moved to Friday, instead of Tuesday, it just didn't happen, so we served Butterfinger eggs and Reese's cups.

Because we participated in the Gallery Hop, we didn't get a chance to see the 16 other galleries that were open that night. However, we did get to view the Rolling Exhibit on display at VSA, which is located directly below us. The exhibit consisted of photographs taken by Kevin Connolly, who has no legs and uses a skateboard to travel the world. Since so many people stare at him, he points the camera in their direction and is able to photograph their reactions to him from a unique vantage point. Be sure to click on each photo for the full version. Very special and very inspirational.

We'll have our next Hop on June 5th from 5:00-8:00pm, so if you're in the area (513 East 10th Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101), we'd love to meet you!

If you thought.....

my stamps and alphas looked bad, wait until you see how I mistreat my paper. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE paper...so much so that I hoard it. The problem that I have is that I have trouble remembering what I have because of the way I have it all stacked. Check this out...



This is my stack of patterned papers. Now I will admit, I'm a little spoiled because I have the opportunity to keep any extra paper that we have left over once we have packed all of the kits. I have more than I can possible use, especially since I never know what it in my stack. The sad thing is that I have another stack of cardstock that looks just like the one above.


So here is today's challenge.....paper storage/organization. How do you do it? Are there good containers out there or are racks the best way to go? I tried to use the stacking letter trays that you get at staples, but the paper hangs out the front and then it is bowed....I HATE that!


Post a comment about how you organize your paper stash and I'll draw a random name tomorrow evening for a free add on. I'll shoot for 5pm CST, but don't hold me to it....sometimes I run a little late ;)

Thanks again for all of your tips on stamp/alpha organization...I can't wait to dig into those baskets of chaos and finish up with binders of organized bliss!!

Out of Chaos Comes Cards

Lorie explained how she and I came to the topic of this post. I was going to post my entire scrap area, but today I will only share with you the part that got my thinking I needed to start getting organized. This is my computer desk. My scrap table is to my left and behind me. It looks even worse. Since I started subscribing to Studio Calico, I've kept my kits in their original bags, in the rolling tote next to my computer desk. It worked well for the first year, but now that we are nearing the end of year two, you have to agree with me that it's not working any more. I am running out of room and don't really want to buy more storage, so I decided a solution would be to start using my kits for cardmaking. Use up the product, then send it away and brighten someone's day. So my goal for this week is to get cleaned up and get rid of old kits!




I chose Fountain Square because I have a good amount left, and I love the color combination. I took a picture of what I had left, each day I post my latest creations, I take another picture to show you my progess. I hope that by doing this, I'll come up with some good ideas to share with you on how to use up your product, so you'll have room for more. This is what I started with:



My goal for today was to use up all the felt letters that came in one of the addons. The container says there are 92 characters. I am happy to report that I have used every single one of them! Not including what I had already done with the kit for the gallery, it took 5 cards and one layout. I hope my ideas will inspire you do to the same with at least one of you sheets or packages of letters/numbers.

That's my challenge for you today, start making cards or layouts, see how many it takes for you to use up an entire sheet or package. Post your creations to the gallery and at the end of our blogging week, plus a couple of days, I'll choose three winners. Once you finish this particular challenge, please link your creation to this post, I'd hate to miss anyone's work.

I made two like this one because I had two 0s and two 8s. I call them my number humor cards and I really think they'll make someone smile.


This is what happens when you dump all the letters out, you find this really cute smiley face and can't help but add it to a card.


One of my favorites, inside it says, "For A Number of Reasons"


I used my final bunch of letters and punctuation to make more of a design than to actually be letters and punctutation. It's got a very graphic feel.


So to recap, how many layouts or cards can you create to use up an entire sheet or package of letters/numbers? Please link in the comments section. You have until March 16th. The prize will be the Glossary add on...

Oh, and I will take another picture of my desk for my next post. I need to clean more than Lorie does! :)

Lack of Organization + Excessive Scraps = Frustration

I have a pile of scraps on the corner of my scrap desk. I visit it often as I am working on projects, but it never seems to get any smaller...instead it has steadily grown and it taking over more and more of my desk. You see, organization is just not my thing. I really want to be organized and I love to look at containers, jars, baskets and organizational tools but I just can't seem to grasp the concept! I love it when Stephanie Howell posts her flea market finds on her blog and then shows how she took an old cigar box or a cool piece of milk glass and turned it into something useful on her scrapdesk. I just don't see things that way!!

Well, Emily and I have the blog this week and we've been emailing back and forth about things and we came upon an idea. Let's challenge our friends at Studio Calico to help us get organized and use up all of those scraps!

So here is the deal....each day we will be posting a challenge and each challenge will be a little bit different. Some of them will require that you use your scraps and some will require that you share your organizational secrets with us. The winners will receive a free Wisdom, Footnotes or Glossary add on. They are pictured below just in case you have forgotten the wonderful goodies that they contained.

Wisdom

Footnotes

Glossary

Now that I have your attention, let me give you today's challenge.......Stamp/Alpha/Rub On Organization. Post a comment to the blog and give me your best tip for storing and organizing your stamps, alphas and rub ons. As you can see below, my method is just not working and I need your help! I started out with shoebox sized plastic containers, but I have quickly outgrown them. Pretty soon, I ended up sticking stuff in a basket on the floor too! Every time I need a stamp for a project, I have to pull them all out and sort through them. It's frustrating and causes me to avoid them if I can. It's a crying shame because you all know how wonderful all of the Studio Calico stamps are and they deserve to be used not just sit in a bin!!!

OK ladies, I'm counting on you to help me out. I was telling Emily today that my Mom is planning a visit for Natalee's birthday next month and I MUST have everything in tip top condition before she gets here. She would have a total fit if she walked in a saw my scrap desk as it is right now! Please help me avoid her disappointment! Check out the total picture of my scrap space.....I'll warn you, it's not pretty.....

.....but it has potential! Help me make this lump of coal into a diamond! I'm looking forward to reading your responses! I'll draw for the first winner tomorrow at 5pm CST.

Emily will be here tomorrow with a challenge that you won't want to miss, so make sure that you check it out.

Until tomorrow......

A Long and Winding Road?

It doesn't have to be! If you're just getting to know your Photoshop Program, whether it's a numbered version, a CS version or Elements you've probably found a few things that you do over and over. Did you know there are some key stroke combinations called "shortcuts" that will perform the action without you ever having to move your mouse or even open a menu? I've found a wonderful, comprehensive website that has a ton of information about shortcuts (and downloadable .pdf cheat sheets)!

Trevor Morris Photographics Adobe Shortcuts
here's another (specifically for Elements)
Dark Side of The Lens

Maybe you're getting more and more interested in actually scrapping digitally, or even using templates to print your photos. The following link is the learning page of a pretty cool site that contains an exponential amount of information. I caution that you might lose hours caught up in the multitude of pages offering information, tutorials and perspectives!

The Daily Digi (look to the right side of the page for more information/tutorials while you're there!)

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Jessica Sprague's wonderful digital classes. I've known many people that have come away from her classes with a wealth of new Photoshop talents!

Maybe you're really, REALLY getting into Photoshop and want even more information. I'd recommend anything by Scott Kelby or Deke McClelland. Photoshop gurus, both of them. You could even join NAPP!

Are you on overload yet? I know that Kirsty has one more surprise up her sleeve for you tomorrow, but I wouldn't be very nice if I didn't give you a little something, as well, right? I've made you a template that you can use to print your photos out, scrap a hybrid page or scrap a digital page--and if you're still not convinced that you can use your computer to scrap paper, just use it as a jump off inspirational sketch!


Wait.... Are you scratching your head about how you'd use this? Maybe you need one more tutorial about Clipping Masks? Just click here and let TaylorMadeDesigns tell you all about them!

Feel confident? Comfortable? Here's your template: Download JO_Template.zip (479.3K) --enjoy!!

As always, just email me (JennO) through the message board if you have any questions, if I can't give you an answer, I'll certainly help you find one! Happy Friday!!

Text on a path

Im so happy that Jenn suggested digi scrapping as our blog topic the other day.
I have not digi scrapped for ages so it gave me a good excuse to have a little play. The best part of digi scrapping, for me, is that I can do a page on my laptop whilst watching TV. No glue, no mess - just one screen dotted with pretty-pretties to pick and chose at my leisure. And if I am truthful, I do acquire most of my digi supplies from freebie websites or failing that, make my own!
To demonstrate the next tutorial I made this layout below. I wanted to be playful and add a circular journal text style to match the mood of the layout. In Photoshop this is relatively easy but as I am not an Elements user, I cannot give you the tutorial for this - perhaps someone out there can offer a tutorial for us? In the meantime, download this quick tutorial (word document) from here if you are a Photoshop user to give you a clear idea of how to use this nifty trick.

You can also use this principal to make shaped text on your paper 8.5x11 layouts too. Simply mark out where you want your shaped text on your desktop page, print out on a piece of printer paper (to test) before you potentially ruin a good sheet of Bazzill and work your layout around that text.

I think the more we can come to rely on hybrid techniques, the more challenging (even interesting) our projects will become.

Brushes, Stamps & PNGS...Oh My!!

Are you still feeling a little intimidated by your photo editing program? Photoshop in particular? Have you heard talk of things like brushes and stamps? Maybe even wondered about .png files? This may be your lucky day! I'm posting a tutorial that will (hopefully) clear up some questions you may have and even help you create your own reusable digital art. What do you think?Can you see yourself using a date block on your layouts...but one of your own design so it's exactly what you want? Can you see yourself putting a little copyright at the bottom of your photo? How about a signature for your blog? Yup, you can do ALL of these things if you can create a brush! HERE is your tutorial. Have fun and please feel free to email me (JennO) through the message board if you have ANY questions!

Hybrid Theory

Oh I know you will be fleeing to the hills when you see this title but give me a minute or two to explain a few things!

Hybrid, in scrapbooking terms, is a mix of digital and paper. You don't have to go "full on digi" to "get" that printing out digi supplies is a simple yet beautiful thing. I am both a digi and paper girl, I cant decide which I love the most but what I do love the most is mixing them both. Over the next few days Im going to show you my favourite hybrid techniques, one using printables (today) and one using shaped text to print out on a full 8x11.5 page. But let me say this, wasn't Jenns layout yesterday just gorgeous?

So, anyway, take this layout below. Its paper based with a hybrid of digi print outs - you would never know they were not from a must have paper line from the likes of your favourite manufacturers. From the hundreds of online digi shops including free digi download sites you can print the papers to a smaller format (not everyone has 12x12 printer capability) and you can even make use of some of those fab embellishments to cut out and layer to look the part.You see the journal card, the butterflies and the rattan effect paper? Yup, all digi and whats even more exciting is if you print them onto Kraft (like I have done) you will result in a super nifty "you wouldn't think it was a digi product" effect.

So to help you recreate this layout or indeed try digi printouts yourself, I have made a little sheet of cut outs for you to download.You can download them exclusively to the Studio Calico blog from HERE and there you simply click on the download button, save to your desktop, open the zip, open the file and press print (preferably onto Kraft, if not white or cream cardstock). If you do make anything with the download, please share it with us so we can see the fruits of your labour!

So are we selling digi to you? Do you feel slightly hybrid yet? Tell us your for's and against's and we can try and convince you otherwise.

Photoshop, Super Easy?

Well, not really...until you learn a few simple tricks, that is! This week, Kirsty and I will be helping you add a little digital flair to your pages...but later in the week we'll be assuming you know a bit about your program. If you already do, that's fantastic...but if you don't...today's post might just be for you!

I've created a very basic, super easy tutorial for laying out a page in Photoshop before you actually lay any paper down. I'm going to take you from this:
to this:
Just the basics, as you can see--so if you already have a good understanding of Photoshop or PS Elements, you really don't need this tutorial...BUT, if you're just starting out, wondering what all of it means-then this is the tutorial you need. Click HERE and you can download and get started!! Please email me (JennO) if you have any questions or need any help!!