Father's Day Card Challenge

Father's Day is just around the corner and I've been thinking about it a lot since it will be my husband's second official Father's Day. Last year, Natalee was just 2 months old, so it was a special day for him, but she didn't really participate. I was inspired by all of the wonderful Mother's Day cards that you all created, so I've decided to have her make him a card (with my help of course)!


Since my daughter will be making her Daddy a special card, I figured that there would be a lot of other boys & girls out there making cards as well. If we are out there making them anyway, we might as well have a challenge.

Here are the details:

• You must use SC products
• Post to the Gallery by Saturday, June 14th by 5 pm EST
• Reply to the challenge post on the message board when you upload your images
• I will announce the winner of a fabulous RAK on Sunday

I will be the first to admit that I am a "Wannabe" scrapbooker. I am awed and inspired everytime that I look in the Gallery and see all of the wonderful things that our DT creates. I'm also blown away every time I look through our member Gallery. I have never posted a layout or card to our Gallery, I'm just a little bit intimidated by the talent represented there, but I will go out on a limb for this challenge and post the card that Natalee and I create.

That's a wrap for today.....stay tuned to the blog this week for some insider information on Studio Calico. I'll be showing you the office, how we work on kits and introducing you to all of our staff.

See you soon!

More Scraps!

How's the scrap challenge going? I heard a lot of people have their June kits! Hopefully this challenge is inspiring you to use up your kits!!!

Speaking of scraps, here is Kirsty's AMAZING book of scraps...it took her 16 pages and 41 odd hours to complete this, but it is well worth it I think!!

Let's Talk about Scraps

We all have them. What do you do with them?

• separate them into colors and file them away for later
• stick them all into one plastic envie to use later
• make matching cards every time you complete a layout with your extra scraps
• send your scraps off you your nearest friend who is new to scrapbooking
  
• bring your scraps to a crop and exchange your scraps for your friends scraps

There are so many ways to use your scraps. Here are a few cards, projects and layouts featuring scraps by the DT girls.



there's the famous "Patterned Paper Squares"(tm) by Miss April



here's Jenn O's take on the PPS (tm)



Davinie also used this idea, but added extra interest by layering another set of squares on top of the first.



I love this layout by Caroline. She used a ton of different tiny pieces of patterned paper to make this eye catching layout.



Nicole S. used the idea of TINY scraps to make this ADORABLE door hanger!!!



Here I just used a bunch of extra strips of paper to create this layout.



Nicole H. also used a bunch of strips to create her layout.



Here's one the Scarlet did with some larger scraps!



I love this one where Steph not only used small scraps of paper but she ALSO used the background piece from the Cosmo Cricket Blackboard. GENIUS!!

Stay Tuned tomorrow for a fab project using SC scraps from Kirsty!!

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Okay, now after all of this inspiration....go forth and make your own creation with scraps.

Here's the challenge:

• Use SC scraps
• Nothing bigger than 4x6 inches
• Post to the gallery by Monday June 9 at 5 p.m. EST
• Reply to the challenge post on the message board when you upload your images.

Can't wait to see what you guys create!!!

Happy Birthday Caroline

Here's a taste of some of MY favorites of Caroline's work. She is such a fun girl and awesome scrappy friend:D Everybody go to the board and wish Caro a great birthday. HERE

Clippity Clips

Hey y'all!
So last month I made Harper a few hair clips with my June kit.


I've had a few questions about how to make them so I thought I'd share a few tips.

You will need:

1. Glue: I chose to use this glue because I had it handy.
You can also use hot glue, or pretty much any fabric glue.


2. Clippies: I made two different kinds


You can find these at drug stores, grocery stores, and Hobby Lobby.

3. Assortment of ribbons, flowers, buttons, and rubber charms from the June Kit and add-ons.

4. Claw clips to hold ribbon as it is adhering to the clip:



Rubber Charm clips:

Make sure to soak the charms in soap and water first. Or you can use some Goo be Gone...
you don't want these to stay sticky.
Layer them over flowers or simply cover a barrette with ribbon and let the charm be the only embellishment.

Flower Clips:



Use your imagination and layer the flowers and buttons. Pretty easy and self-explanatory.


Fruit Charm Clip:


I cut a piece of ribbon in half length-wise.
I frayed it for a shabby look.
I then threaded the ribbon through the charms and knotted it.
Adhere charms to clip.

So there it is!
Super easy, right?
I thought I'd just post a few specific tips to make it a bit easier.
You can also make a button clip, or simply tie some bows with the pretty Cosmo Cricket ribbons.

Use your imagination...I can't wait to see what you come up with!

xo
stephanie

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!