Tutorial : turn a moleskine into a travel journal

Hello my dearest SC lovers :)

Today, I would like to show you how I turned a plain moleskine journal into a perfect travel journal for my friends!
They went to Cuba last Spring and I wanted to make a travel journal for them : they're going to be able to fill it with as many photos as they want :)

I couldn't resist using my Magellan add-on kit from this month as the Making Memories embellies box is just SO perfect for my travel theme!

I love Moleskine, I've been collectiong them for years and have tons of them full of inspiration, ideas and travel notes : I always have one in my bag, car, bed table and scraproom!

Simply add double-sided tape on the front and back covers of your Moleskine journal.

Try to choose one paper that you really like as you will see it through the window of the cover.

Add papers on the inside covers too.
Try to keep the pocket on the last page too : you will be able to put tickets, notes and tags in there!

Get ready to attach your Moleskine to the Suitcase package.
Put double-sided tape all over the window, so that you know your journal will hold still.

Ta-da! Now let's decorate the cover!


I fell in love with that cute Plane ribbon : it couldn't be more perfect for my album!

Make a pocket with double-sided paper : simply cut a piece of paper (the size doesn't really matter, it just has to fit the back cover), fold the sided and the bottom inside the pocket and glue with double-sided tape.

There you go!
I hope you liked it and I'm looking forward to seeing any Moleskine journal altered into great mini albums :)
Enjoy!
c.

Yo-Yo Flowers Tutorial

Quite a few of the Design Team made the project kit add on this month. I know when midnight rolls around we are going to see a few different takes on the fabric flower.

I love making fabric flowers, and one of my favorite quick and easy ones is the yo-yo flower! For one thing, its called a yo-yo flower, that totally makes me smile and think of Eazy-E. When you make it without a hem, it is a quick and easy embellishment to any project.

Here's my process:


1) Find a circle for a template. This is a random chipboard circle that I had lying around, but I've used all sorts of things in the past including a punch like this. The finished flower will be 1/2 the radius of the beginning circle.

2) Either trace the circle or just cut out around the circle template. I chose to trace the circle.


3) Cut out your circle! I love my cutterbee scissors, but I've also used these Tim Holtz scissors with excellent results.

4) String a needle with embroidery floss or bakers twine with a knot in the end. Sew a running stitch around the outside edge of your circle, leaving approximately 1/8th inch of fabric. Gathering fabric as you go.

You don't need to make a hem like you would on a quilt yo-yo, because we will be covering up the middle of our yo-yo.

5) In the end you will have a little drawstring bag.

6) Turn your bag into a flower with the gathered part in the center. Leave the floss and needle in place if you are sewing on a button. If not, tie off your floss.

7) Sew a button into the middle of your yo-yo, and voila, a yo-yo flower!!!


Here is my completed banner project for our new baby's room. There is a yo-yo flower between each flag. I used the Patchwork add-on along with papers from the other kits for the mini banner and letters. I used lime twine for the mini banner. I also added a spray of Lemon Mist on each of the flags.

Here are a couple of other uses for yo-yo flowers.

Behind the Scenes - a baby book

I have quite a few friends that are pregnant or have just had their babies. My friend had little Jada in November, and when I saw the colors of the last kit, I knew I had to make a baby girl book.


When I make a mini book I think of a few things:

• What is the subject matter?
  
• Who is the book for? A scrapbooker, a non-scrapper, a grandma, a new mom?
• How much handling is the book going to get?

As I considered these questions. I decided to go with an easy to handle, easy to clean and easy to travel with 4x6 photo book. These type of books are very quick for a new mom to "fill," and they are also pretty rough and tumble. I love using these traditional books in a new way by filling some of the pages with photos and some with scrapbook pages.



On the opening page I included the vital statistics of Jada as a newborn. There is also room for a newborn photo of her.


In the following pages I followed a simple pattern that was easy to duplicate and relatively flat, I also left room with the awesome SC stamp for Jada's mom to fill in some of the things that happened during that month.


At the back of the brag book there is plenty of room for extra photos that the family might want to include and carry around with them.

Let me know if you try one of these quick and easy brag books for anyone in your life. I'd love to see them.

This would be a perfect purse accessory for a new mom, or a doting auntie, or especially a gramma who wants to show off all those wonderful grandkids!

Valentine's Mini Tag Book! ...A Tutorial

In honor of this weekend's holiday, I thought I'd make a little mini tag book for my sweetie. This is a really easy project that anyone can put together,
and chances are, you already have everything you need to make it.


For the tag book, I gathered some basic supplies:

• Studio Calico Silhouette stamps
• Studio Calico Heart Tag stamp set from Whodunit
• Maya Mist in Silver
• Staz On ink in Jet Black
• Scissors
• Office supply tag
• Scrap paper
• Stapler
• Black pen

This would also be a great time to use any punches you have.


First, I folded my tag in half. I stamped a heart onto a piece of scrap paper, cut the heart out and made a mask out of it. I sprayed Maya Mist directly on top of the heart and removed the shape once the mist dried.


Then, I took my Staz On ink and stamped directly where the mask was.


Then, I gathered scrap paper for my inside pages. I cut about 6 little double-sided sheets to fit right inside my tag, then folded them in half.

You can really use any kind of paper you want here, vintage, ledger, patterned...I experimented with some white washing, but decided not to use the paper for a layout, but decided the finished product was perfect for my tag book.

I stamped the girl silhouette on the right side of one paper, and flipped the boy stamp over to stamp it on the left side of another piece of paper.



Once I finished stamping, I folded my "pages" and arranged them in order.



Then I folded the book in half and trimmed off the excess corners.



Then I flattened the book out and stapled the spine right on top of the fold.


Of course, you can decorate the pages before or after you assemble your book. I did most of my embellishing after, and here's how mine turned out:



That's it! Easy peasy. If you decide to make your own tag book, feel free to link it up!

xoxo,

Steph W.

Home Decor Blog Challenge Winner

Emily here, apologizing that I didn't get a winner picked until now for the Home Decor blog challenge posted two Mondays ago (1/18). I had spotty internet while away at CHA, so I never got around to seeing all the great projects entered into the challenge.

But WOW! Your entries sure impressed me, some beautiful works created, a lot with scraps or products that were collecting dust. I'm glad to see how much was accomplished. Thank you.

And without any further ado, Mindy aka wlsdrew is the winner with this cute framed project. Mindy please email and we'll get you set up with your $5 certificate!

Ode to my Mom :)

Hello everyone!

I know everyone is getting ready for Christmas but I thought you wouldn't mind seeing the cute gift I made my mom using the amazing Printers Tray project kit :)

I know it's quite difficult sometimes to find Christmas gifts for our loved ones, especially if they keep telling you they don't need anything! Well, there's one thing they always need : LOVE!

So, I thought I would work on a project to make my mom happy and I know she's going to like it :)

Ok so this is what you might need to make this project :

• this month Printers Tray project kit
• adhesive (I really like this one because it's fast and easy to use)
• Mulberry mist
• Charcoal mist
• Lime twine
• Yellow twine (I can't live without those twines now)
  
• Turquoise twine
• FIVE 2,5x3,5 photos of your loved ones :)
  

First of all, you need to cut twelve 2,5x3,5" pieces of paper into your favorite patterned papers (one piece for each little window).


My photos are a little bit smaller than the ATC's size as I've been having problems with my printer but, in a way, I like it better like this as I managed to mount them on patterned papers and it looks good too.
You'll see that, on another ATC, I used this clear acrylic butterfly as a mask with my Charcoal mist. You just need to use a baby wipe to clean your butterfly afterwards.


Here's a very clean design, not to get a too overwhelm and busy design on all of my ATC's.


For this one, I just cut stripes of papers, glue it on my ATC and sprayed some mist on top of it all. Then you can use a heat gun to make it dry faster, if you don't like to wait (just like me). Cutting the chipboard button can add interest to your design, as you're working in frames.


Those tiny flowers are just too cute for words!


You can use tiny embellishments on your alphas as well.


This is what I was explaining earlier with the butterfly clear acrylic. Doesn't it look cool? Simply outline it with a white pen, write a bit of journaling inside the shape and ta-da!

Here, I cut a flash card in two and work on two ATC's frame at a time, in order to match the design a little bit.

And this is what it looks like in my artroom vintage wall! :) Too bad I'm giving it to my mom because I think it looks great on my black&white vintage wallpaper :D but that'd be the reason to get me another Printer's tray :)

I hope you liked it, girls, that you got as much inspiration as you can :)

Merci! :)

Céline

paint + stamps challenge winner!

Thanks to all of you who participated in our paint + stamps challenge this week! I love how versatile these supplies are, and you all put your own twist on it. I put all the names in a hat and drew the winner - *drumroll please*

HANNA!! - please email info@studiocalico.com and they'll hook you up with your prize code. =)

Nik managed to sneak some time after her Black Friday shopping to make this gorgeous canvas. Isn't it beautiful? I absolutely adore the color scheme, and the little stamped couple. Nik painted her background and the big heart, and edged some of her other elements in paint.



The boy and girl are framed by the label stamp from the April kit - one of my fave SC stamps because it's so versatile.



I love the label sticker tucked in amongst the vintage papers, and the baker's twine tied around the key is a nice touch.



My project is quite a bit simpler - a friend of mine inspired me by making some gorgeous Christmas tags last week, and I'm suddenly obsessed with making my own. For these, I pulled out some scraps from my December kit, as well as the Cosmo Cricket chipboard from the Strings add-on. There are so many elements on the sheet and I knew I'd never use them all on pages, but they are perfect for quick tags! I sprayed each tag with turquoise mist, then added a typed sentiment, a variety of stamps stamped with Broken China distress ink. I finished them with some other bits of paper and embellishments and stitching, and edged each tag in aqua paint.



Even though the challenge is over, I hope we see more paint + stamps on layouts in the gallery. It's a wonderful way to add something extra to almost any project. Check out the stamps in the shop - you might find one that you *need* to have shipped with your December kit. ;)