Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Workspace - for the love of organization


I'm fairly obsessed with good organization, I work best with things in their place and I am always on the look out for new storage ideas and a fresh perspective on how to keep my workspace organized.  Needless to say when Studio Calico announced their latest class with Marcy Penner, I was so excited! I mean check out the awesomeness that will come with this class.
  • 8 lessons that will walk you through the process of assessing your space & storage, your stash, and how you use it so that you can organize (and maintain) your workspace in a way that works for you.
  • Bonus lessons sharing ideas for finding vintage pieces for storage, repurposed and recycled storage ideas, creating an inspiration board, starting fresh in a new space, and identifying & tackling your "hot spot" problem areas.
  • A class message board where you can interact with your teachers, and get encouragement and support from the teachers and your fellow students as you go through the process of perfecting your workspace.

Bonus Digital Files :
  • Worksheets for each lesson, to help you work through the class
  • Printable tabs to use to label your supplies
  • Cut files for tabbed dividers for your 3x4in and 4x6in cards
  • Reveal planning checklists
  • Kit tracking sheets

I am super excited for the bonus Digital Files because Marcy is the queen of planning sheets so I know these will be awesome.

Sign ups for this class will close this Thursday 7/31 so make sure you sign up before its too late, you can do that right here. There's also still time to bundle some of the class supplies with your monthly kit orders, like this stamp set which I love and purchased just to have on hand for the class.



Its a great time to get your workspace in tip top shape so I hope to see you in the classroom!



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Sunday, July 27, 2014

Studio Calico Sandlot full reveal


Welcome to Sandlot, Studio Calico's August Project Life® kits.  Like I mentioned in my sneaks post I made four different projects with this months kits and the kits were so much fun to play with. The variety was amazing and I really think these kits will appeal to everyone.

Note: reminder that all links below will work for subscribers as of now 9:00am PST and tonight at 9:00pm PST for non subscribers.

My first project was my Project Life® week 28 spread


I had a lot of fun playing with some of the digital files to make my own filler cards this month and I really loved the background cut file that Paige designed. The 4x6 version worked great for my title card, I just cut a few small circles sized to match the die cut washi tape and placed them over the center sections. Unfortunately some of the items in the kits didn't arrive in time for the creative team so I didn't get a chance to play with the clear plastic tabs, the die cuts or the silver alpha but even without them I ended up really liking my spread.




My second item was my Volume Two title page, I loved these who, what, where, when cards in the Yeah Yeah addon and they seemed like the perfect fit for a title page. I just added some simple labels and the brads also from the Yeah Yeah addon. I printed and cut the labels on my cameo with the text already in place so it made this whole process super easy and super fast, the whole page was done in less than 30 min. only because I angst-ed over what side of the cards to use and then had to pick the photos. I love this pop of color so much.



My third project was was a little challenge the Creative Team members decided to do this month and we each picked a member from the community to lift.  I chose member Sandy Ang I absolutely love her graphic and clean style and I always find something super interesting and unexpected in each of her pages. You can see here gallery here and her blog is here.  The page that I chose to lift is one of my absolute favorites of hers and it was a lot of fun to lift. The photos from our recent trip worked perfectly and it was a great way to quickly document the details. I used pieces of the 4x6 Paper Pad and the alpha and one of the brads from the Yeah Yeah addon to make this page.

Here is my page



and here is Sandy's page

source / Sandy Ang

My fourth project was something that I just had to do this month. With super limited time I wasn't sure if I was going to make all of these projects happen but I guess when you want something bad enough it just seems to come together.  Shanna designed the most amazing accordion fold mini album for the digital shop this month and I used it for the base of my mini.


I used three strips of Shanna's template and just cut them out of plain white cardstock, nothing too think because I didn't want it to be too bulky. I designed each page separately and either printed out the photo or laid out the paper elements that I wanted to use.  This card from the Repeat addon ended up being the perfect choice for my cover. The mini is a gift for my daughter and I used more photos from our trip that were specific to her adventures. Here you can see the complete mini and its about 5/8" thick with all of the layers.



This paper from the 4x6 Paper Pad was a perfect start to the mini I just laid out my journaling on my computer and printed it right on top of the card. The wood veneer elements in the Yeah Yeah addon were also really great accents for this project. I also opted to just snip off the arms of the brads with some wire cutters and then just use a foam dot to adhere them down so I didn't have the extra bulk on the back side to worry about.


Shanna's template set came with some overlays for your photos and I loved this one, I just laid it right on top of my photo and it was perfect.  The blue page on the right is a printable set from Tina and I printed it out on vellum just to add a little variety. The Hello LOVE die set, is amazing, and I am completely in love with using manual dies now and I just love how perfectly in fit in the middle of Tina's printable.  The tiny labels in the Repeat addon have some really cute sentiments and I loved picking out just the right ones to use.


Here is another of the dies that come in the set, I cut it out of two different colored papers and just fit the letters back in in a contrasting color.


Because we received some of the cards digitally this month it allowed me to print this card out on vellum, I left a bit of the edge and tucked it under the previous photo so it would open and lay on top of the photo underneath. I love this affect and it can be done with any of the printables in the store this month if you want to create a similar affect.


I love the watercolor cards in the Repeat Addon and again more wood veneer and tiny sentiments.


She was so brave! The banner is a digital file from the Card Kit Addon Stamps this month.


Here is the last die in the set and again I cut it out of two papers and layered them back in place and matched up the pieces so it looks seamless and I love it. The Be Happy is a digital file from the Scrapbook Stamps this month, also by Shanna.


This Hello Adventure card in the main kit could not be more perfect, it looks so similar to my photos I just had to use it.


I really loved the printable set that Geralyn designed this month and turned this card into a pocket so it could hold some journaling. I added a brad again with the legs snipped off and made a little ribbon out of the silver glitter washi tape.



This remember when card from the main kit was the perfect way to end the album with just a few sentiments and things I wanted my daughter to remember about the trip. I used the digital files of the Scrapbook Stamps to help number my list.


I hope you all were able to pick up everything you wanted in the shop this month and make sure you check out the Creative Team Gallery, its really amazing this month.

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Thursday, July 24, 2014

Studio Calico Sandlot sneak peaks

Its that time again and the Studio Calico Sandlot kits are jam packed and had so much variety to them that I was able to tackle four different projects with them, and that's a new personal best for me!

The first one is my main kit only Project Life® spread, this picture shows some digital bits too.


(note: we did receive some of the main kit cards digitally this month so when I printed them out I chose not to round the corners. The main kit cards will come with rounded corners as normal.)


I really loved the wood veneer banners that Shanna designed and they took ink just great as I show here.


My second project was to complete my Volume 2 title page so I used some cards in the Yeah Yeah addon which I loved.


My third project was a layout and I took some inspiration from one of the community members to lift. Its one of my favorite layouts of hers and I definitely need to do this more often, I really loved it.


Lastly for my fourth project I made a mini album for my daughter of a recent trip we took using something super cool in the digital shop this month. It was so much fun!


Loved these new dies!



Reveal will be in just a few short days so make sure you have it marked on your calendar.  9:00am PST on the 27th for Subscribers and 9:00pm PST for non subscribers.  Its not too late to start your subscription so make sure to check out Studio Calico to find out more information.  You can also see more sneak peaks right here.

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Monday, July 14, 2014

Project Life® 2014 week 27

Doing my best to keep this project caught up and on track so I'm back already with another spread to share. Since this spread is the first one in my volume two I decided to start it with the same Design G page protector that I started my volume one with. The front is still blank and I will tackle that shortly, but I love this style protector because it gives you two horizontal 6x4 slots and I really needed them especially to accommodate the super cool wood veneer flag that came in the special July 4th pack at Studio Calico, which sadly is sold out.

Here is the full spread and some close ups.


The Celebrate America word art was a freebie from Ali Edwards, you can find it here.


For the title card I used a sheet from the Pretty Little Paper Pad that was a subscriber exclusive back in March. I could easily use a bazillion more, I mean gold stars, its perfect.  I used the new Charlotte Number stamps to stamp out and emboss our recent high temp and I also played with one of the July 4th cards that were released digitally to create my journaling card for the 4th. The digital cards are still available and you can find them here.


Here is a close up of that pretty star paper.


Have a great Monday and I'll see you soon.
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Friday, July 11, 2014

Project Life® Vol. 1 the missing weeks

I know its been ages but I've been working away filling the gaps in my volume one album. I had six missing weeks to tackle and I really didn't want to leave them undone. I have let myself get behind this first half of the year and I really didn't like it one bit. I don't plan on letting it happen this badly again. I found while working on these pages I reverted back to my simple get it done approach and kept it mostly photos, words, a bit of digital, and a few bits here and there. It makes it go faster for me if I don't think, I just do.

This is going to be photo heavy so lets get too it. I'll link to any of the kits that are still available at Studio Calico, there are a few that still are.

Week 16, way back in April, Easter weekend. I used only the Easter pack from Studio Calico to complete this spread. Tons of photos and a few words, probably the quickest spread do do.




Week 17 another oldie from April and practically no photos.  Thank you pretty rose photo because you saved the day by getting blown up big. I used only one card on this spread for my title and its from the Bluegrass Farms Projects Life® main kit.




Week 22, a little more current now from the end of May early June. I used quite a few things from the Penny Arcade Project Life® main kit and the High Striker addon.




Week 23 a lot of digital here and a few pieces from the High Striker addon, the Penny Arcade paper pad and the Hello Hello Project Life® main kit. I loved how that veneer cloud fit perfectly for my movie outing I just had to cut some tears for it.




Week 25 and hello Summer! Only two cards here are from kits one from the Camelot main and one from the Guten Tag addon.




Week 26, the biggest and the most photo heavy spread of them all so this one required an insert.  The main spread has a lot of the G'Day addon and some old bits from past kits that I had laying around like that lollipop and the pink bow.




The front side of the insert is all about my daughters Kindergarten Promotion


and the backside was our day trip to Tahoe with my mom.


And just like that Volume One is done! I'm looking forward to working on my first spread for volume two which will cover the beginning of July, especially the 4th.

See you back real soon, I promise!
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