The Story of Australia Day

Firstly let me straight up apologise for the quality of the photographs in today's post. I took them at night time as you can probably plainly see, and the magic of Photoshop only extends so far. I could very well take the photos again now since it's a lovely sunshiny day, but you see, today is Australia Day and as quick as I can write this I'm out to watch the kids splash in the pool!

But it was a different story last night.  At 9pm it strikes me that my favourite stamp designer Kellie Stamps had provided me with her perfectly Aussie Australia Day set, and that in approximately 3 hours I was going to wake up into that celebration. Sometimes the holidays just sneak up on me like that ;-) So I immediately set to gather some things together to make a little project. I couldn't let an opportunity like this go to waste! So within 30mins this little baby was whipped up, and hence why the photos were taken at night time. It's really rare for me to scrap that fast, but it's made heaps easier by supplies that quickly come together.

Apart from my Kellie Stamps Australia Day set I also grabbed her Monday-Friday set (because it's got all the months in it) and a Summer Loving Flair (for the year). Taking my inspiration straight from the Aussie flag I decided to gather some blue, red and white supplies together too. Despite being designed with a wintery ski resort in mind, the January Copper Mountain kits from Studio Calico were actually perfect for the occasion!!

Even the stars came from the school-themed High Point Add On kit. But backed with some silver glitter paper and arranged in the shape of the Southern Cross and suddenly the became the perfect Australian embellishment!

Alright.. and with that... I'm off to enjoy the sun. Happy Australia Day to all who are celebrating this fine country today.

xx



Supplies:

Copper Mountain Scrapbook Kit Add on 2: High Point Kellie Stamps Australia Day Kellie Stamps: Monday Friday Kellie Stamps Summer Loving Flair Prima Chalk Ink: Ladybug

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The Story of the Grade 1 Report

So before we get too caught up in the hype that is the Studio Calico February Sugar Rush kits (and believe me... the hype is justified!) I wanted to share with you a little more in-depth look at one of my layouts from the January Copper Mountain reveal.

It's fairly straightforward on first impressions, I'll give you that. There's some real fun bits like the cluster of enamel dots and puffy hearts down in the corner.

And there's the exclusive die cut shapes and wood veneer that came in the High Point add-on that were super fun and suited this school themed layout perfectly.

But the real star of this layout is the photo, or more specifically, what lies behind the photo. The jumble of tags hanging out the side gives you a hint that there just might be more here than meets the eye ;-) I need that visual clue myself, because once this baby makes it into an album (putting that job on my to-do list) it might flatten out a little and not be so obvious that there's layers to be discover underneath. And hopefully the title will give it away too.

Because what I've done is to include a miniature version of Munchy's entire Grade 1 School Report right into my layout! Being 4 pages long, and needing to keep it still readable I decided the only way to do it was to create this little mini-album of sorts. I first scanned in her report, shrunk it down and then printed it out just on regular copy paper.

Each page of the Report has it's own spot in the 'album' by sticking it to a folded piece of paper sandwhiched between the front cover (with the photo on the front) and the back which is firmly attached to my layout. Love that microscope from one of the October Afternoon papers right?!

Meanwhile, if you want to check out some real experts putting together some real mini-albums then you might want to come and have a look at the new class offering from Studio Calico, called Mini Book Workshops. Four of the Creative Team (Maggie Holmes, Marcy Penner, Celine Navarro and Nicole Reaves) putting together 4 Mini Books over the course of the year.

You can sign up for the Workshops individually as they come out (first up is Nicole Reaves' gorgeous album) or get a major discount by signing on for the full 4. Find out all the details in the Classrooms here!

Supplies:

Copper Mountain Scrapbook Kit Add on 2: High Point More Vanilla Tiny Attacher Glossy Accents

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Because I'm Happy

I think I've got a new found obsession with creating little pockets to fill with goodies to include on my cards (mostly) and layouts. It started as I wanted to find new ways of using or upcycling the glassine bags that many of the Studio Calico embellishments come in. But the trouble with glassine is it's semi-opaque so you need to fill it with something bright in order to stand out.

So then my train of thought ran along the same lines and I came up with the idea of instead using the plastic packaging that many store-bought embellishments come in. Being transparent means you can then fill it with even the most subtle of decorations and it'll still stand out. It's also good for including more 'precious' keepsakes, like my daughter's lock of hair from her first haircut that I included on my layout here. Let me show you how I put one together and made this card as an example..

First I gathered some supplies from my January Studio Calico Copper Mountain kit and Add Ons. See that cute little mini-badge? It didn't ultimately make it onto my card, but it's important in this photo because I used it's plastic packaging for the demonstration ;-) It was just the right width for a card! But anything similar is going to work fine.

I took out the badge and it's backing and instead filled it with a scrap of paper and those funky colourful sequins from the Fremont Glades add on. I didn't need the entire long length of the packaging so I trimmed off the top, folded it over and closed it shut with another scrap that I sewed on with my machine. There's no way those sequins are going to fall out!

That gave me a burst of colour and even sound and movement for my card as those sequins are only loosely packed and can roll around in there if you shake it. It created such a fun element that I built the rest of my designs around it to allow it to still be the centerpiece. 

So what do you think? I think it's a happy twist on the standard confetti pocket, and a great way of recycling old plastic packaging that would otherwise end up in the bin :-) I can foresee lots of possibilities with this method such as glitter, beads and buttons. Oooohh... it's got me itching to create again!



Supplies:

Copper Mountain Scrapbook Kit Add on 1: Fremont Glades Add on 2: High Point Add on 3: Slingshot More Kraft More White In a Creative Bubble Journaling Card Cut File Glossy Accents Martha Stewart Glue Pen Glue Glider Pro Tim Holtz non-stick Scissors

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Studio Calico CHA Online Crop Extravaganza

I tell you one thing that's true... there's no-one else that throws an online event like Studio Calico! While the head-honchos are off at CHA we're having a bit of a celebration on the boards and blog. For a start we've got challenges that go up every 2 hours and I got to host one of them. Here's the layout I made for it...

It's a simple challenge to make a layout based on this sketch below..

I love that this sketch is built upon a block design which allows you so much creative freedom to fill each of the 4 quadrants with pretty much anything you like. It's a great opportunity to show off some of your favourite patterned papers, such as the October Afternoon woodgrain paper from the Copper Mountain main kit, and the Basic Grey birds from Fremont Glades.Well, they were my choices anyway!

Another option for filling a quadrant is to cluster some embellishments such as I've done here (love those Chic Tags Happy Place Clips from Fremont Glades), or do a whole lot of journaling.

My layout tells the story of my daughter's school-time activities. It seems she might want to follow in my footsteps after all, as she's been telling her friends at school she's knows how to be a doctor and pretends to perform surgery on them at lunch break! She's always claimed she never wanted anything to do with medicine.... but perhaps not hey?! At the very least it's a lovely form of flattery from my 7 year old :-)

All 10 challenges have now gone live. There's challenges to suit scrapbookers, cardmakers and project-lifers alike. And there's plenty of time left to enter as we're keeping it open until the 16th. Every entry that's posted in the gallery or on Instagram with the hashtag #SCCROP2014 goes in the draw to win a 3 month Studio Calico subscription!!! Here's a link to the main post with all the challenge details.


Supplies:

Copper Mountain Scrapbook Kit Add on 1: Fremont Glades Add on 2: High Point Add on 3: Slingshot More Gray Glossy Accents Martha Stewart Glue Pen Glue Glider Pro Tim Holtz non-stick Scissors Precision Pen

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