Spotlight on SC Member: Houston Stapp

Houston, like all members is a valuable member of the Studio Calico community. I particularly like her for her GREAT name and comedic sense of humour. I set some questions to her and asked her to share two of her favourite layouts. So, lets get to know Houston:

Who are you and where do you hail?

I'm Houston Stapp from Denver, Colorado... at least I was the last time I checked.

How long have you been a member of Studio Calico?

I joined Studio Calico in January of 2009, after spending several months drooling over my friend Emily's Kits.

How did you hear about Studio Calico?

I heard about SC from my sweet friend Emily Pitts, I was always checking out her latest kits.

What do you love most about the kit?

I love the exclusive SC papers, they are the number one reason that I joined, that first set with the maps just had to be mine! I'm holding onto one sheet still, I can't bring myself to cut it up.

Share with us your favourite layout you made with a Studio Calico kit

My favorite layout made with an SC kit is my Gram layout, this one was a labor of love with all the fussy cutting involved but it's full of meaning for me, each of those frames with the little pictures corresponds to a favorite memory I have of my time with her. This layout was also the first one I used homemade "thickers" on... it's acid free foam cut with QuicKutz!

Share with us your bestest ever layout.

Hmmm... my bestest? In my opinion it's Sing Like You Mean It. The design is clean and simple with a few little quirky touches. I love this layout.

How do you store your kit?

I store my SC kits in the big 2gallon zipper bags. I write the date and name of the kit on the front of the bag and then I put them in a shopping basket that I keep beside my desk chair. SC kits are always the first thing I grab when I begin a layout.

Here is a picture of Houstons scrap room:

Whats your thought process when scrapping?

I want each layout to take my family back to the moment being depicted. I choose the papers and embellishments to convey the mood of the photos. My process looks something like this... print photos, choose products, cut and layout, move it around, add something else, move it around again, and again, and again... when it's finally looks the way I envisioned I glue it down and journal.

Whats you top scrapbook tip?

Don't worry about everything being perfectly straight! The first time I scrapped with Lisa (Blue Star Design) I was shocked by her crooked photos! I'm to the point now where it doesn't feel quite right if everything is straight. It's freeing.

Who or what inspires you?

I get loads of inspiration from the SC Design Team & Gallery, my scrappy friends, magazine ads, songs I hear on the radio, and sometimes just by looking out the window!

If you could be a sheet of scrapbook paper, which one would you be?

I would have to be the paper from Jenni Bowlin that has the bird and blossoms on the right hand side. That is my all time favorite sheet of paper! It's simple, peaceful and perfect!

If you could add anything into a forthcoming kit, what supply would you select?

I would choose some QuicKutz cork or metal sheets, it's amazing what you can do with them. I know that all the ladies at SC would come up with some brilliant creations!

Name one thing we might not know about you?

I hate to drive at night. It totally wigs me out! I'm that annoying lady going slow in the right lane.

Thank you, Houston :)
You can read Houstons blog here

It has also been recently announced that Houston has recently been selected from hundreds of entries to be a Quickutz Ambassador - WOOOOOOOO! Congratulations!

5 Products+3 different designers=3 totally cool layouts

How are you doing on your 5 product challenge? I'm seeing some really awesome layouts in the gallery, so please keep them coming! Last week, I had asked a few other designers to join me in the challenge and it's been so fun to see how differently each interpreted the challenge. I also asked them all to write up their stories behind their pages–how they got to the page we see now. It's been really fun to read about the things that worked and the things that didn't, but that the designers made work. Thank you to each designer for helping me out. Today I thought I'd share a few more with you, beginning with DeniseN, who did not disappoint. See her creative process below:

The vision I had in my head before I started in no way matched the final outcome. In actuality, I never stick to the vision that is in my mind upon starting. It evolves and changes as I go along. Having the list of five items to use made the process easier - no choices are sometimes a good thing. Upon starting I thought the paint would be the hard part, but the alphabet stickers turned out to be the real challenge. I almost left the title off to go for a more clean lined look, but then realized I had to use those stickers to meet the challenge requirements. Darn sticker letters.

Next we have reyasunshine, I loved how she used packaging as a mask, this recycling of product is so fun to see!

I love challenges! I love them especially when it's a true challenge to me. Metal and paint?! Not two mediums I use on a regular basis. And though I was a bit apprehensive about those two, I was still really excited about this challenge!

I was really surprised at how quickly my brain threw together a layout containing those products. The minute I read the products, I had a sketch in mind, and I actually didn't sway from it hardly at all.

I knew I wanted to use a large shape as a mask for the paint, so *choosing* that shape took longer than creating the actual layout. LOL. Heart? Flower? Jenni Bowlin packaging (that cute bracket)? I looked for inspiration in my mini album box, and I chose the Basic Grey luggage tag album. It had a hole at one end, so I just used repositionable adhesive to temporarily cover it up while I painted.

I pretty much knew that I wanted to use this fun photo of my husband and me... laughing. I just love that photo. I look like a dork, but it's okay because that's what I look like when I laugh. Tee hee. (He, on the other hand, looks super cute!) Once I got the photo, I had to decide on what metal to use. Something that would go with my theme. I'm all about relating my embellishments... making them relevant to my story, point, theme or feeling of the layout.

I REALLY wanted to use those Making Memories metal sayings that we just got in the August kit (though I also considered the BG glazed brads). Whenever I get something in a kit that makes me say, "What?! This is so not me. I will never use this," I give myself a challenge to use that FIRST! Or at least use it at *some* time on a project. I do this with every kit, and whenever I get finished using the product, I get SO excited, and I'm just so proud of myself. (This has happened in the past with flowers, chipboard, stickers, and buttons...)

All Studio Calico patterned paper is genius... so many uses, and that strip on the bottom? Perfection. :-) I chose the "My Dear" paper and used a scallop circle punch to cut out one of the shapes. I then took some white embroidery floss (secured to the back with a bit of my Kokuyo), and wrapped it around and between the scallops to give it a neat gyro effect... kinda like the shapes on the paper! I love the way that turned out.

Then I just drew my journaling lines with a ruler and pen. I was glad I was able to do several sentences of meaningful journaling because it's one of my favorite things about layouts... I get to write. I get to be my long-winded self when I have more room on a layout, and I love that! I felt this was really important to record.... and remember. :-)

I can't wait to do another layout for this challenge! It's really encouraging me to step outside my style/taste box... but still be true to my clean and simple self. :-) Maybe I'll even use something other than white cardstock for my next layout! Hmm... maybe not...

And finally, fellow DTer JennO offered to play along and I couldn't refuse!

It all started with this picture I had--one that really didn't have a particular sentiment behind it--just a random happy shot of my darling nephew. It had been sitting on my desk and I'd been pushing it around on the kraft for a while (days before Emily announced her challenge). My daughter came over and made the comment "I just love that picture, he's so adordable!!"

**Light bulb moment** I know that we all have them, those family words that stick around through the years-but wouldn't mean much to anyone on the outside. She inspired me to scrap it...and quite possibly a collection of them in the future.

Now I have the kraft base, the photo and the story...I'm ready to play within the parameters of Emily's challenge. My first idea was to paint the background behind the photo...but I realized that I do that a lot when it comes to paint, so that idea went into the trash--and paint on the back burner. More pushing the photo around. More rifling through my drawer of scrap paper. I found the yellow dot and instantly thought happy & red. Along came the red thickers (alpha), the baker's (floss) twine and the red (metal) brads. The paint finally came to me when I wanted to add a bit more of the yellow but not overwhelm the photo or the page with it. I grabbed the cap to my water bottle and the cap to a pen knife and added the circles. I finished up by brushing a little more paint around the edge and adding the journaling. For kicks, I outlined a couple of the painted circles. Simple, easy and about 15 minutes once the idea hit. Thanks, Emily!!

Hopefully reading these comments will help you get a "lightbulb moment" of your own. Stay tuned, tomorrow Kirsty takes over and she'll have the last of our 5 product participants for you on Saturday.

Typographic Inspiration

I get a little geeky when people start discussing typography. My family recently rented a indie from netflix called "Helvetica." (Recommend it highly if you like fonts, my kids even enjoyed it.) I'm definitely not the font of all knowledge when it comes to typeface, but it's something I've always enjoyed. I used to practice hand-drawing fonts, just to see if I could do it. I'll never have enough fonts on my computer. I love getting new alphas, they are definitely the thing I hoard the most in my collection of scrap supplies (my current favorite is Chit Chat from American Crafts).

I wanted to share some fun typographic images with you and a few links to sites that I've book marked for typographic inspriation. Some of my favorite layouts are inspired by ads that use fonts creatively, trying to translate that onto a layout really makes you think differently.





All but the first image were pulled from a fun website called "Things To Save," under the Typography tag. It's a site full of images and no explanation. It's subtitled A Library of Visual References and it's a place I found while looking through google images when I was searching for typographic inspiration. That's where I found the other image, the first one. It just makes me smile, "Have you considered orange?"

Another site I enjoy is Ace Jet 170. Every Friday is Found Type Friday, and he's got some rather interesting examples of typography in our world. Pretty cool.

I found Ministry of Type through Richard's site and this:

It's a linocut of Paris, all the areas are represented typographically. For the story behind it and more pictures, you can go to Mark Andrew Webber's blog post. Pretty interesting. Ministry of Type is a place you can get lost in, clicking links and exploring all sorts of typographic mysteries.

And if you run out of things to look at on these sites, you can always go to flickr and search under typography. I could get lost for days!

Layout of the Week

The layout of the week is brought to you by Karen Moore(naturemomm).





This layout has been added to your favorites more than any other layout in the SC community gallery for the week of 8/9-8/15.

Congratulations Karen! Because of this you have won a $10 gift card to be used on any new purchase at Studio Calico.

Want a chance to win next week? Be sure to upload your projects to the SC gallery, and support your community by adding special projects that catch your eye into your favorites! It could be YOU next week!

Please note, winners are not allowed to win more than once in a four-week period.
Winners are not limited to those using Studio Calico kits.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sneak Night Winner!!!!

ArlaMo said...

Honestly, I'd love to chat with Cathy Zielske. I've taken a couple of her classes and she is hilarious!

So jealous of all that Hambly goodness you're going to get :)

5 Products=One Layout

When I first started scrapping, I occasionally participated in a 3 product challenge host by the amazingly talented Robyn Werlich. Every layout I made for that challenge became my new favorite because it forced me to focus on just a few supplies. Because I wasn't worried about what else to put on my page, I think I enjoyed the process that much more.

Last week's blogging was about looking back at how we've changed as scrappers, and it got me thinking about that challenge. I wondered how I would do with it now that my style has changed to include more texture. I've also been going back through old blog posts, labeling them to help make the blog more usable and I saw a similar challenge from Stephanie and Nicol. I thought it would be fun to revisit it, with one extra product.

Without further ado, I challenge you to make a layout using the following 5 products and the following 5 products only (you can use cardstock as a base, and of course pen or computer for journaling, but see if you can stick to the 5 products listed otherwise.):

1 sheet of patterned paper (Studio Calico would be wonderful!)
letter stickers
metal
paint
and embroidery floss or baker's twine

I've asked a few Studio Calico subscribers and DT members to join me for the moral support, and I'd love to have you play along too. I'll start a thread in the Challenges Forum for you to link to when you are finished. You have until Saturday to complete your layout.

Here's kathyb's layout. I have always loved her layouts because she tells such good stories in her journaling. I think her family is lucky to have her scrapping their memories so beautifully! I love how she took the exact same list as I did and yet made a completely different layout about her son's love of the name Maurice. I asked Kathy to write up a paragraph of the story behind the page, that's something I noticed you guys want to hear when I was reading throught the suggestions made in Maggie's post. So here's what Kathy said about the experience of creating for the challenge:

This page is about my 3 year old and how he ended up calling animals and then crabs “Maurice”. I took the photograph on holiday earlier this year and showed it to him the other day. His reply to my questions made me smile and so I wanted to record it.

Initially I thought it would be easy to work with just five products as I’m a minimalist scrapper, and love lots of white space. Once I started it was harder than I expected. “Metal” was the most difficult item to include as it’s not something I’m fond of.

The key was choosing a double sided paper that had a decorative strip ( studio calico “thread love”) so I had lots of patterns to play with yet they were all from the one sheet of paper, in keeping with the rules.

I cut some of the circles out of the paper using a craft knife, and then used the holes as a stencil for the white paint “bubbles” - We’d found the crabs in the sea the day the older two were snorkelling. I drew lines round the outside for definition.

I had a lot of journaling I wanted to include, which in hindsight I would have preferred to position differently as it has made the page feel more cluttered than I would have liked. Overall I’m pleased with it and enjoyed participating in the challenge.

Here's my take on the challenge and an explanation on how I chose what I did for the challenge:

The first thing I chose was the metal pin from Maya Road. I'd gotten them in the Documentary kit, but somehow (might have to do with my messy scrap area) they got misplaced and I didn't find them until after all my projects were done, while I was cleaning up… I immediately stuck them into my bulliten board and made a mental note to use them soon. I thought it was funny the the one thing I had to use was the one thing Kathy didn't like using. I usually don't gravitate toward metals either Kathy :).

I knew I wanted to use paints because of a post by Missy on the message boards about the Claudine Hellmuth gel medium and paints. It got me itching to pull out the paint. The embroidery floss idea came from this page by VanessaMeryl I saw while perusing her gallery the other day. And the other two products, letter stickers and patterned paper, well I just needed two more products!

And a little about my process:

I started with the pin through the picture, knowing it wouldn't be the focus of the layout, but that it would still add a lot of texture because of how it bends the picture just a bit. I then cut out a rectangular frame from the SC paper, but in moving it around I wasn't thrilled with the look. I pushed it aside and it ended up hanging off the edge like you see in the right side frame. I loved how that looked, so I cut the frame up into three separate ones and added the white paint. Normally I love lots of color, but i wanted to keep this page a bit softer because of the subject matter. Originally I was going to use the letter stickers as a mask, but things went horribly wrong–think paint seeping under the stickers, misplaced stickers that because some were on the white paint and others on the kraft, made it hard to read the title, and a bit more paint streaking onto the picture than I'd planned–I scrapped the whole page started over again. But since I already had a plan, it went really fast. I then added the title, thinking the green Basic Grey letters would carry the green top from the pin over in nice line. I finally added the stitched lines to the boxes, which looking at them now, they really remind me of pages in a book, but that wasn't where I was going from, I just thought it added a cool design element and some texture. It turned out to be a great place to journal in as well.

Having to use 5 specific products wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, it actually gave me more room to play than I normally allow myself, I think it's something I'll be trying a lot more of in the future.

P.S. I really am smiling in that picture!

All week, I'll be sharing more pages inspired by the challenge with you, and from the ones I've already seen, I can tell you, they are all amazing. So please, join me in this 5 product challenge!

They Just Keep Getting Better.

Today we're going to take a peek at some of Nicole H and Davinie's older layouts. I had fun soaking in their pages this afternoon...picking out a few representative pages to share here. It's so cool to see how they have both stayed true to themselves while staying current with the trends and new products available. I love that I can look at their pages from 2006 and right away pick out the same things I love about their work today.

First up, Nik. Here's a couple of her pages from this month's gallery.

One of my favorite things about Nicole and her pages....she wears her heart on her sleeve. And it's a big heart! :) Full of love for her family, daughter, friends, life. With each layout, you can get a glimpse into her heart. I so admire that, as I struggle with getting my feelings down on paper. I also love how she uses paint and makes it look so effortless. How she uses little bits of product in ways I would never have thought of. And her designs that draw you right into the photo. So, when I went back in her gallery...guess what? I loved her old pages for all those same reasons. Here are a few...

Next up, Davinie! Here are a couple from the August gallery.

I think the thing that always strikes me first with Davinie's work is the stitching she does. Whether it's handstitching or machine done...it's always perfect. And it always just finishes the page in just the right way. She also is a master at mixing up patterned papers in ways I never could and the details in her pages always wow me. They are subtle, but when I look closely, it's like I'm finding a little gem that I didn't notice at first glance. :) Here are a few of her pages dating from 2006...and like Nik's...I love them for the same reasons I love the ones today! The product styles may have changed a little, but the signature Davinie touches are still there.

I hope you all are enjoying this blog topic of looking back. :) Have a great weekend...more from Jenn tomorrow!

Look Familiar?

Nic and I asked the SC Design Team if they'd share some of their earlier projects with us. I pulled Tina C. and Joy from the responses to feature today. I had a good time looking back through their galleries and was amazed to see that, like the rest of us, some things changed, some things stayed the same. Take Tina, for instance. Her gallery is a constant wonder to me, I love seeing her tell a story with a title, some words and a bit of product. Below are a few of her most recent pages.



In looking back at Tina's gallery--I can tell that she's someone who can cut right to the heart of the emotion. She's never one to prop up a page with clutter or unecessary elements. It's obvious her style is strong and ingrained...as her pages from around 06/07 still seem fresh and current.


I pulled some of her earliest pages (roughtly 03/04--she'll have to correct me if I'm wrong) and it's so fun to see where and how she started. Even back then she gorgeous photos and a strong sense of who she was as a designer.


The target of my next "investigation" was Joy...who is always so cutting edge and funky. I adore the way she mixes things up, the way she combines patterns and shapes. You never see a page of hers without knowing it's hers. Some of her most recents:


This page I pulled from about the middle of her gallery and I really think this is where she just really let loose and felt free to be Joy. :) I can tell that her colors and mixes started popping and tugging her in a unique, artistic direction. I think this page is from about (05/06)--again, hopefully she'll correct me if I'm wrong.

The beginnings of Joy's gallery look something like the following two pages. I can tell that she was having trouble locating the exact embellishments that completed her pages...because why? Because she was making them on her own!! I love that she started from such a true place of art and ingenuity. That's really where I think she shines and she can look back and say "it all started when..."
I read the comments you guys made on Nic's post and I have to say how impressed I am with your willingness to share 'where you came from'. Scrapbooking can be such an embracing hobby and I love that art evolution is just one more thing that we all share! Nic will be back tomorrow featuring some more of the Design Team's pages! Until then...make sure you're signed up to win the Sneak Night Giveaway on the post below this one!!

Sneak Night Giveaway

Want a chance to win 4 limited edition sheets of Hambly? I do!

Oh, wait I can't enter.....bummer.

Anyway, these papers are not available anywhere. You can't purchase them, they're strictly for giveaway purposes, so now's the time to enter to win!

To enter, just leave a comment telling us who you'd like to chat with most in our Live Chat area! It can be a designer, scrap-celeb, a manufacturer (or representative thereof), it can even be Jason Mraz......one can dream, right?

My turn to share

I loved how Jenn titled her blog post yesterday. That's really the whole theme of this week...where'd you come from? Because I'm pretty sure all of us (except for those rare yet annoying people who do everything perfectly the first time) have seen our scrapbooking evolve over time. Change with not only the current trends, but also as our personal style develops. So, here goes. I started scrapping back in 2002 with a QVC kit of K and Co. papers. I had always put things in albums/scrapbooks using cut outs from magazines, brochures, etc...but this was my first time using real papers and stickers. I think these pages are from 2004-05. Be kind! LOL








It's kind of fun to look back at these pages and see not only the cute toddler twins (were they really that small?!) but also what about my scrapping has changed and what has stayed the same.

First....the changes. This one is easy! Today I'm way more into patterned paper in bolder colors and patterns. I think I favored more solid and subtle prints back then because they were easier to work with and less intimidating. I think I have a better handle on placement and how that can create a focal point on your page. I am more adventurous in design. I also use more products, more stuff on my pages now. But that could be because my stash is MUCH larger than it was back when I first started!

So, what's stayed the same? What has become part of my "style", my comfort zone? Well, I still like to have multiple photos on the page when possible. I tend to keep straight lines with my photos and papers. I like to mix up the fonts/style of my title words. I am still sort of anal about my colors on the papers matching the colors in my photos. eek!

I've taught a lot of classes at LSS's. Layout classes, minibook classes, altered item classes...lots of different ones. And class after class I've heard the same thing... "I could never think to do that on my page" or "How do you come up with this?" or "I can't do that kind of scrapping...I'm not creative at all" My response to these ladies is usually the same thing too... " YOU CAN LEARN IT!" I know I did! I never considered myself crafty or artistic or whatever you want to call it. I just enjoyed scrapping and loved looking at other people's pages in the mags. I used to really study them, read all the supply lists, scraplift the ones I loved, borrow ideas from others....until I started to come up with the designs and the ideas myself. It was a gradual thing, but eventually I started to be comfortable with my own style and knew what I liked and what I could do well. Then I hit repeat. :)

Thanks for taking a peek at these old pages. I hope they might cause you to reflect on your own evolution as a scrapper OR encourage you if you are just starting out and feeling a little overwhelmed! :) Jenn will be back tomorrow with a look back at another DT's work!

Where'd You Come From?

We're a little bit behind this week...but Nic and I thought it would be fun to show you that everyone evolves! That's right, we're going to pull out some of our very first pages, some of the other design team ladies' first pages and compare them to some recent pages and stylings. What do you think about that? :)

What the heck, I'll even go first. I'd been doing some paper/scissors/stickers stuff on and off since 1997--but when my busy baby boy came along, I'd basically given up on ever having enough space and time to really get into paper scrapbooking--in fact I hadn't touched anything related to scrapbooking in about 7 years. Somehow during a random web search, I came across something called digital scrapping...and ended up sharing the majority of my pages at a little Pea site. These are some of my very first digital pages:


After a few years a friend of mine was transitioning from digital to hybrid to paper and convinced me that I should, too. Suddenly, I had a massive amount of paper scrapping supplies and no idea what to do with them. I started browsing a lot of the challenge & kit club sites looking for ideas to incorporate into my pages.

In looking at some of my older pages I realize that there's still some things that I fall back on. I'm still pretty much a one picture kind of scrapper. I still have an affinity for straight lines and moment-telling. I still love bright, happy colors and big titles. Recently I find myself drawn to clusters of elements and tiny details, I've found that I love playing with paint and now reach for stamps more than ever before. Did I wake up and just suddenly decide to do these things? Of course not...it's all a process of gathering tids and bits from other scrappers and outside inspiration.




So...remember--evolution happens in everything to everyone. You're not the only one that might have some pages from 'way back' that you don't love as much as your more recent pages--and that's ok! Embrace having captured the memory!