How would I describe the August Kits from Studio Calico? Well they're full of bright pastel colours (is that an oxymoron?!), funky graphic patterns and have a very playful theme to them. Take the Main Kit 'Sandlot' for example....
Talk about fun! I for one am embracing that small splash of purple, that rainbow paper, and those awesome acetate alphas (yep... then I threw in an alliteration as well!). Here's my Main Kit only layout for the month. It's a 2-pager! Yay!
Sometimes I find that I want to go really quite simple with my style. It never lasts of course. Usually after one layout I've got that out of my system and then want to go back to my normal layered and embellished pages. But here I took up the challenge of keeping it clean and graphic.
The title page was created by printing out one of the journal cards in giant form to fit the whole 8.5x11" page, and then I cut out the word 'light' with my craft knife so I could back it with a pop of colour. I used Clean Slate Ink to stamp the 'Be Happy' and arrow which help jazz it up a notch too.
Add On 1: Hercules
So it turned out that Hercules became my favourite Add On this month. I never would have guessed that to be honest. I really don't consider myself a floral kind of girl, and I've always struggled with the bold black and white prints. But then I did this layout and my world just got turned upside down...
And can I be completely honest? I actually really really love this layout! It's definitely my favourite for the month. Thanks Marivi for letting me lift you!
After that, I wanted to add those roses to every other layout, but stuck with just this one. I didn't want all my pages to look same-same, no matter how fabulous those roses are! So this one is my hybrid attempt for the month, and again I kept it a little more simple in it's design. Which is what I seem to revert to every time I do hybrid. I don't think I've quite got the hang of it yet, because I struggle with knowing what the overall design of the page will be when I'm doing the digital side of it. And obviously once it's printed out it's essentially unchangeable and I just work around it.
I don't really mind though, 'cos I know the simple look can still be quite striking. Perhaps even more so. And I love the focus on the photo whilst then adding some textured elements on top. My title for this layout was once again made using one of the Printable Journal Cards. I opened it up in Photoshop and then erased the rectangle outline so I was just left with the words.
Add On 2: Jet
This kit is absolutely jam-packed with goodies, and has been designed as a mini-album kit. Marcy Penner is using it for her upcoming Mini Album Workshop. But if you're not a mini-album kind of person then don't automatically overlook this one. I've ended up using bits and pieces of this on 3 of my layouts and I've got soooo much left over!
For starters, I used lots of the 4x4" papers all layered up across my page for this layout, which was mainly because I couldn't bear to cut into that gold star vellum and I wanted to make a real feature of it. It kinda suited my theme of birthday parties even thought there's nothing specifically 'birthday-y' about any of these ingredients. But maybe lots of numbers and lots of stars are birthday-y?
Add On 3: Smalls
I'm really finding that each month the embellishment-only kits have been filled with some really fun supplies and this month is no exception. I'm really bummed my kit shipped before SC headquarters could get a lot of these things arrived in the warehouse. But obviously if you guys buy this kit you'll get everything pictured!
My last layout uses the papers from Hercules, the chipboard frames, alphas and star paperclips are from Jet, and in fact it's really just the gold sequins that are from Smalls! But I did use those acetate stars up on my "Turning 7" layout above. On this layout however my main focus was on creating a bit of an interesting background and then keeping the colours of the design minimal.... just teal, orange and grey. It was a good challenge, even if I wasn't really happy with the outcome. Embrace the journey though I say!
You can check out more details about my layouts in my Studio Calico gallery here. Happy reveal day!!
ETA: We didn't get a chance to pop up the Kit Unpacking video before the reveal, but here it is now in all it's normal colour-blind, colloquialism-loving Trophy-Husband and cute-kids glory!!
Sandlot Supplies:
I'm overwhelmed. Dunno where to start - & have forgotten what I was going to say anyways!!! BUT I do love the page where you did all that journaling on the black lines.....& your alliteration made me groan....& YUP! Oxymoron conquered....think I might work with some soft brights tomorrow, WINKS!!!! Anyways....also, the big pic pages do look great - & call for simplicity as balance, methinks...& so much droolicious goodies leaves me reeling.......!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone appreciated all of that! :-)
DeleteThanks Lizzy!
xx
Tea towel cloth. LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteHee hee!!!
DeleteLoving your pages as usual but had a question. As a Perth girl I was wondering what the cost of postage is for the kits, does it double the cost? I'm so tempted but the price concerns me.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Studio Calico are very transparent with their postage costs, so you can actually 'test' it out to find how much it's going to cost you to post different things. I do this all the time! If you add what you want to your cart and then go to checkout, the postage cost will be clearly shown. You haven't committed to anything at this point so don't worry! The international postage is based mainly on size and weight, so if you only get a Project Life kit for example, it's only about $7. But if you get a scrapbook kit, it's about $20. Because I subscribe, I take advantage of the combined shipping at the time of reveal. Between reveal (on the 28th) and the end of the month you can add as much as you want to your cart, and even check out as many times as you like and it all get's shipped in one bundle for the one cost. But you can only do that as a subscriber. I figure it's totally worth it for the extra price because you're always getting LOTS of exclusive products, and often at a lot cheaper price than from someone else who's had to import them. Anyway, feel free to get in touch via email if you would like to discuss it further :-)
DeleteLove that your children know all the scrapping jargon!! They are just gorgeous! Ordered my first-ever kit from SC last night-the August scrapbook kit :)
ReplyDelete