Studio Calico Wink Wink Reveal

Wow, I'm feeling so happy to back contributing to Studio Calico again this month after a little hiatus from my favourite kit club. And even more happy when I found I genuinely love so many of the products in the Scrapbook Kit, Add-On Kit and Embellishment Kit that I was sent to work with. The whole Wink Wink reveal has just gone live and you really must go over and check it out, but perhaps you would like the Trophy Husband to share his thoughts on the products first?!!

    

Now that's out of the way, let me show you what I've managed to make so far and tell you what I've been loving.

I always start off with my Main-Kit-Only layout because it's nice and easy to do with the fully packed kit and because after that it just becomes too tempting not to combine them all together and go wild ;-) So I went a bit hybrid and whipped up this simplistic but dimensional layout.

The little bits and pieces that finish off a page are always my favourite (shiny gold puffy asterix anyone?!) but before we get to that point it's the big focal points that steal the show. I think everyone on the Creative Team has fallen in love with the yellow fold-out paper. It's a 12x12" piece but I figure I'll get a lot more mileage out of it all cut up... so that's what I did!

My second layout documents Bethany's recent 9th birthday. Given it was only 2 weeks ago I'm feeling pretty darn proud of myself for having gotten it in an album already ;-)

I started off mainly using the Main Kit too, but like I said, it got too tempting not to add in just a couple of other touches from the Add On Kit called LOL.

But my big fun bit of play time came when I got to run a couple of the new stamp sets through their paces and managed to get them both on this page together. In fact it was the Beginning and End stamp that inspired the subject choice as I thought the 'beginning of 9' vibe could replace the journaling (I know ... shock!) as the photo pretty much speaks for itself. Let's be honest, these cake cutting photos all look fairly same same after a while don't they? So it's just the date that I need to make clear so I can figure out what birthday it was in the future.

And what better way than to make the date big and bold and smack it right in the middle of the page?! I'm deeply in love with the new Jack number stamp, the size and font are perfect!

I didn't intend for my third layout to be a double-pager. I completely finished the right hand side as my layout and left the journaling until last. I had planned to add a couple of lines underneath my title and call it done. I'm not sure why it didn't click earlier that I was going to have wwaaaaayyyy too much to say on the topic of breastfeeding but it's obvious that I do. LOL!! So I ended up writing out everything I wanted to say (for now) and printing it on another piece and then tried to match up embellishments so that it seemed like a cohesive double layout.

That might help explain why there's two "happy's" as well. The little blue stickers on the pineapple tag spelling out happy above the glittery blue ones was my original title. When I decided to go ahead and add another glittery 'happy' on my second page to draw them together I couldn't peel these ones off without ripping the tag slightly. So the two happy's were there to stay!

The double layout was created exclusively with products from the Add On Kit LOL, the Embellishment Kit BRB and a couple of printable journaling cards.

My fourth and final layout (for the reveal anyway) came about when I decided I really needed to test out a couple of the new dies that are being released. The new set of Emoji dies are super cute and the progression of shock, grimace and cool-as-a-cucumber faces actually suited my layout subject perfectly. As you can tell by my lengthy journaling once again, I needed to unleash a few thoughts on my recent job hunting adventure and those emoji faces really help tell the story.

The assortment of arrows in the top left corner of my layout are another set of dies and I know these are going to come in handy a lot, especially when I do things like my Bible Journaling. I'm always tucking in arrows there, pointing to verses and whatnot. 



Anyway, that's it from me right at this second. The reveal is live and there's plenty more fabulous new products hitting the shop as well. I've got a couple of tutorials going up on the Studio Calico blog this month too. The first one is up already and shares my hints and tips for using that Block Wallah stamp that comes in the kits. But watch out for another one coming soon too.

Happy Scrapping

National Scrapbook Day 2015

There's so much happening around the blogosphere tonight, just love the excitement that's poured out about our mutual love for all things memory keeping and papery. I've already done some blog hops and chats and created things. But right now I'm going to be here at Big Picture Classes.

There's a free classroom that just opened up where I'll be amongst some seriously talented women challenging you in different ways. Here's the project I created for my challenge - see if you can guess what it could be?!

 

Supplies: Far Far Away Card Kit, Versamark Ink, White embossing powder, 

Gold glitter embossing powder, Thanks metal die, Gold foil paper

You might need to go ahead and watch the video I've put together of how I created the card which will explain exactly how and what the challenge is!

      

And if you're thinking with all this crafting you're going to need some new supplies then check out the limited edition World Scrapbooking Day kit from BPC. Not only is it totally gorgeous (totally need that stamp!) but it ships FREE anywhere in the world! That's enough to make me push the 'purchase' button ;-)

 (there's also a very similar kit, with the same free shipping clause over at Studio Calico as well!)

So I hope you'll join me over in the Big Picture Classes classroom for some serious fun!
But in the meantime...
Happy Scrapping!

xx

The Story of the Tassel layout

I always love the February kits at Studio Calico. I don't know what it is, maybe because it's the month of love and the kits tend to be girly and colourful, but without fail it's the February kits that always make it into my top 3 by the end of the year. It's no doubt that Cirque fits the bill for 2015, and I was lucky enough to be sent High Wire and Flying Trapeze to work with! My assignment? Create a little tutorial for you :-)

When faced with a 'challenge' like this I simply just start off with what I know. I make a layout! And whilst I'm piecing it together I look at my products, I look at my colours, and I look at my embellishment choices and wait for inspiration to strike about what I can add that's a little funky and different. What can I do that's a little technique-y and suitable for translating into tutorial form.

Inspired by the feather stamp in Flying Trapeze, and because I'd been perusing all the latest CHA releases which seem to have rather a party focus this season, I thought I could definitely do a scrapbook version of fabric tassels.

The tutorial was up on the Studio Calico blog last week. If you'd like to check it out you can find it here.

And if you were contemplating a subscription then February is definitely the time to do it with these codes for 50% off your first month.

Links: 
Subscribe to the Scrapbook Kit. 
Subscribe to the Card Kit.
Subscribe to the Project Life Kit. 

The Story of the Peacock Card

I've definitely got a whole feather-obsession thing going on right now. My Instagram account is filled with different images of me making different versions of them. Some of them I have plans for... like when I posted all these peacock feathers in progress. Some of them (like this one) I don't know what I'm going to do with yet :-)

The photo above was merely step one in the great peacock-feather-adventure-card which ultimately ended up looking like this. 

 

I was super super excited to have my card and it's corresponding tutorial featured last week as a Guest Post on the blog of none-other than my long time crafty idol Julie Fei Fan Balzer!!



The feathers are actually made with a 6x6" stencil that Julie designed. It's a couple of years old now, but still remains one of my favourites, so when Julie asked for a tutorial using her stencils I knew just which one I was going to reach for. 

After much texture paste, watercolours and of course glitter (!) I had a whole flock of feathers that needed nothing anything else but a sentiment in order to create this fun card. Kinda looks like a firework explosion of peacock feathers don't you think?

If you're interested in checking out the whole tutorial of how this card came together from beginning to end then please go over and visit Julie's blog. Maybe you'll be inspired to create something feathery this weekend?

Rainbow Christmas Bag Tutorial

Because I'm a sucker for a personal request!
So when I was asked on Instagram if I could do a tutorial on how I made my rainbow Christmas bags which I blogged about here, I didn't even contemplate saying no :-)

So it turns out these are really simple. Here's a look into what I did.

I start off gathering all my supplies together right at the beginning. I decide on a colour scheme that will blend nicely together, in this case greens and blues, and choose some mists that will work. It doesn't matter to me that they're all different brands! I also have a paint palette filled with water as well as a water misting bottle, and of course a paintbrush and my plain calico bag.

I dampen my entire calico bag with the water in the misting bottle - just spray it all over so it's nice and moist. I'm aiming for an ombre effect with my colours so I start with the lightest (lime green) and make it even more dilute by mixing it with more water. I paint some haphazard brush strokes across the top. Then I paint a bit of the lime green straight from the bottle so it's a touch darker.

I then move onto the next colour (aqua) and repeat a similar process. There's no right or wrong to this, I just slosh it on however I feel like. Sometimes I mix the mist with water, sometimes I paint straight from the water. Sometimes I drag the brush all across the length of the bag, sometimes I just paint a section. Just have fun with it!

I keep on going with the other colours until the whole bag is covered. I do like to finish at the bottom with a really bold dark colour though, and paint it quite heavily to create this dramatic effect.

After it's done drying (whether you have the patience to let it air dry or whether you speed it up with a heat gun) you'll find that the colours have blended nicely and have lightened up a bit. Now I like to spread on some glitter glue with a palette knife. You can be as scant or liberal as you want...... I love my glitter so I've added quite a bit to these bags. I've gone with a couple of different colours too just to make it more interesting.

The last addition to the bags was to stamp a simple pattern of crosses with Color Theory Ink. I just rolled them on in sections, again with no particular systematic approach... just wherever I had a little gap that seemed to need filling ;-)

The tags I made up as I went along. On some scraps of watercolour paper I splashed on some of the mists at the same time as I was painting the bags. I would just wipe my brush on the paper after I finished each colour on the bag. That way I didn't waste any of the mist and I knew the colours would match!

When dry I punched out the tag shape and added a simple (glittery!) letter.

Despite the non-committal face ... trust me.. the girls loved opening their bags on Christmas morning!
Hope you all had a marvellous Christmas celebrating the joyous season with friends and family.

xx

Invisible Ink and Homemade Watercolours

There's nothing more exciting than watching my girls take a real interest in wanting to learn how to scrapbook 'just like Mum'. I love that they're excited about crafting and more excited by the fact that they want to do it with me. And they're eager to discover new techniques too. That gasp of joy when I teach them something and they see it come alive before their eyes is soooo rewarding!

This week I showed them a couple of simple but fun techniques and taught them how to create their very own bright and vibrant Christmas cards. That's right, these two cards you see were made by my 8 year old (on the left) and 4 year old (on the right). Not me. Except for the trimming and sewing etc.

I call this my invisible ink and homemade watercolour technique and it's perfect for crafting for kids. You'll see why if you watch the video.

        

Meanwhile, it's also not bad for us adults too. I love the effect of this and can easily see myself creating cards along the same lines. In fact, I already have! Remember this card from my recent sketch feature on the Studio Calico blog? A bit more technical, but it's basically the same idea.

I love that my kids chose out these bright colours to create with. They're not hindered by thinking about traditional Christmas colour schemes. They just want what they like and for Moriah that always ALWAYS involves purple, and for Bethany it's not so specific - just something pretty.

Although I have to admit, I've been creating my own fair share of Christmas projects with lots of pink and aqua too. They're my favourite all year round so I don't see why I shouldn't include them into my holiday crafting as well ;-)

As a parting gift I've linked up all the supplies we used to create these cards in the list below. I'm still going crazy for Kellie Stamps Joy Set for all it's wonderful typographic sentiments, and I can never have too many stars in my life.

Happy scrapping!


Supplies:

Kellie Stamps: Joy Stamp Set Poet Society Card Kit Transparent Watercolour Papers Waterbrush Zing Embossing Powder: White Versamark Watermark Ink Color Theory Ink: Lime Light Color Theory Ink: Something Blue Color Theory Ink: Mint Hint Color Theory Ink: Emerald City

InLinkz.com