Insider Tips - use stamps for your title

Hello everyone!

I made a special layout for today's insider tips - I couldn't resist using my left over products from my Elk Lake & Adirondack add-ons :) I just LOVED playing with these two add-on kits, not only they match perfectly with my Main Kit, but the colors are exactly what I'm craving for at the moment :)

Here are a layout for my two of my best friends, a special gift for them : Amelie is an excellent cooker and Ben simply ADORES food :)

For this layout I used :

Elk Lake & Adirondack add-ons
Stamps : Tweets, Sewing Machine Set, Months stamps, Noah alphas
Raspberry Maya Mist
Punches : Bubbles border, Double Embossed Dotter Lace border , Photo Labels punch, Royal Butterfly
Foam squares


For my title, I simply combined one of Jenni Bowlin's journaling tags, the Months stamp and Noah alpha stamps to make my title : simply use different fonts, different ink colors, different elements to make a unique and urban background.
Feel free to mount one of the stamps with foam squares in order to add dimension to your layout.



Here I first stamped my label stamps that I got in a previous kit (available soon at the shop) that PERFECTLY matches my Photo Labels punch - could it be even more perfect?! So that means : you need to order that punch and then order the stamp soon available :)


Thank you and I'll share a layout I made inspired by Sasha on Saturday :D
Take care!
c

Tutorial: Misting Masks

Hello there! Today I want to show you a few ways to create your own templates/masks for misting. There's many ways to use mist and so many items to use them with... here's a few of my favorite:

• Use Stamps

On this page from the Continental gallery, I colored the inside of the mini starburst with mists by creating a template using the same stamp.

1. Stamp the starburst on a scrap piece of paper
2. With a craft knife cut the inside of the stamp
3. Layer the template on your page and mist with gold
4. When it dries, stamp on top of the image with distressed inks (i used wild honey)

• Use Patterned Paper

Here, I used the Scattered Clouds paper from Adirondak both as a design element and a tool.


1. With a craft knife cut out one of the clouds (the big one)
2. Layer it on top of the paper (cover the area around it with a paper bag)
3. Mist with buttermilk or cream
4. Sew around it for more definition

• Use Packaging
  

This is one of my first (and fave) misting layouts. I made it with Playground. Remember Playground? I still love that kit! Anyway, for the background I used the JBS chipboard buttons packaging from Soda Fountain. I just placed it on top of the blue paper and sprayed with orange mist.

You can also use the negative space by tracing and cutting out the shape. I did that on my class clown layout from the Joyland gallery. There, I used the MME ribbon packaging. Super simple.

• Use Embellishments

This is an easy one. Just pick any embellishment you like and mist over. Of course, the more interesting the shape (like this bubble chipboard from Granny's Cupboard) the better. Chipboard envelops and buttons work well.

• Use a Die Cut machine

Another fun and easy one (if you have a die cut machine, that is). I love this one the most because of the endless possibilities. You can cut different shapes in different sizes, letters, words, etc. When using my Slice to create a template, I use regular paper (and because I scrap 8.5x11 it works perfect for me).

1. Select and cut out the shape
2. Layer the paper on top of the cardstock or paper your scrapping with
3. Mist


Easy peasy, right? :)

Top Ten Favorites...#5-#10

Ever been curious as to what the most "favorited" layouts of all time are? I'm here to show you numbers 5-10 and Steph will be back on Saturday with the top 5. These layouts have been added to your favorites in the gallery more times than any other layouts. That's a pretty amazing honor, don't you think?! :)

We'll start off with #10 by our very own Waleska! Her fabulous grid design draws you in and who doesn't love a layout made with Yearbook? Definitely an all-time favorite kit!

Paperandglue wowed you with this stunning layout in our #9 spot...she rocked February's Baker's Dozen kit with those sweet punched butterflies.

The fabulous Keisha wins our #8 spot with this gorgeous layout. Her stamping is so subtle but amazing here...

#7 belongs to Chelseavn, who always creates such stunning layouts. What's not to love here...the misting and banners and all the little details are amazing!

Bluestardesign wraps up my part of the countdown in our #6 spot with this beauty. That title with the baker's twine is so creative and fun. Lisa's layouts are always so perfectly done...

Congrats to these five designers for being in our top 10! :) Be sure to check back on Saturday for the top 5!

insider tips : faux washi tape

Happy Thursday, everyone! This week is flying by for me. Today, I want to share some faux washi tape inspiration with you. I love the look of washi tape, but have never been able to pick just which colors or patterns to get - and buying rolls adds up quickly! I've experimented with making my own with masking tape, mist and stamps, but was never happy with the results. Earlier this week, I came across this tutorial for making it using fabric tape that you find in the first aid aisle. The tutorial uses watercolor paint to color the tape, but I wanted to see if I could make it work with mist - and it did!

I found that the best way to get even color was to brush my tape with water first. I love this brush set - they are priced well and the brushes hold up beautifully over time. You can use the tape full size or cut it to a smaller width - I had no problem using my paper trimmer to cut it.



Next, I sprayed the tape with mist. I used hydrangea on this piece. After I misted, I used my paint brush again to spread the mist evenly. You could also leave it as is, and get a more of a gradient color wash - the point closest to where you sprayed would be the darkest, and it would fade from there. If your color is too dark, blot it with a paper towel and you can remove some of the mist. If you're happy with the color it's time to let it dry. It took about twenty minutes for my tape to dry completely, but if you're in a hurry, I'm sure a heat gun would speed up the process!

Now comes the fun part - adding patterns with stamps. The sky's the limit here - you can go for a tone on tone look, or experiment with something a little more bold. After I stamped, I used my tapes on a quick card - and of course I had to keep with our travel theme for the week. =)



(supply list : vanilla cardstock, jetset pp, window seat pp, girl's paperie pp from the july kit, hydrangea mist, lemon mist, charcoal mist, tumbled glass ink, mustard seed ink, journaling lines stamp, tweets stamps, tiny attacher, bumpy road border punch, foam adhesive, shipping tag, fiskars heart and circle punches, typewriter)

The best part of this? The roll of fabric tape cost me $2.79 - I had everything else on hand. Now I can have tape that matches any project for a fraction of what washi tape would cost. I can't wait to experiment more with this technique.

Tutorial and Summer Layout

I was so excited to scrap some recent beach photos and the summer photo challenge was the perfect motivation to do so! I've been so inspired by handmade accents these days...I think they add the perfect touch of whimsy and originality to a layout. I wanted to show you how simple it is to create your own with just a few supplies I know you have lying around. First off, here's my layout....

I'm going to show you how to make that fun sun accent...it is super easy! You only need a few supplies...to start, you'll need some mist and a coffee filter.
Use your misting box (to avoid getting mist all over the place. lol) and mist the coffee filter with 2 different colors to get the effect you want. I used orange and lemon to get a nice orange-y color.
After the coffee filter dries, take it and crimp all the way around the edges...
gathering it into the center creating a circular shape....
When you're finished, you'll have something like this...the center won't look so pretty, but that's okay, we're going to cover that up.
Use a circle punch to punch a circle from some orange patterned paper and adhere it to the center of your "sun".

To finish it off, I simply added some brads to the paper circle (see top layout photo). Now, you have a fun dimensional accent for your layout that was created with just minimal supplies! You could also use this idea to make flowers...I think several of these in different colors on a layout would look stunning! If you decide to try this simple technique out, link up your project here so I can be sure to check it out. Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend! :)

member spotlight : qingmei

Happy Friday, all!! I'm super excited to sspotlight one of our members today - the lovely and talented Geralyn! She goes by qingmei on the message board and I'm sure you've noticed her beautiful pages in our gallery. Geralyn's work shows a wonderful sense of color and design, and I can't wait to share a little more about her with you all.

1. What 3 items can you not live without?

Studio Calico alpha stamps (particularly the Carter & Storytime alphas).
Label stickers.
Border punches.

2. What's inspiring you right now?

These days, I find a lot of inspiration from browsing through tumblr or design blogs (one of my favorites is http://ohjoy.blogs.com/). I also get inspiration from JCrew and Anthropologie catalogues. If I ever feel like I'm stuck, the amazing DT gallery at SC never fails at inspiring me; I love browsing through the past galleries as well.

3. What's your favorite Studio Calico kit?

Joyland - I love the color palette and the mix of papers, alphas and embellishments is perfect. I find that my layouts with Joyland are coming together pretty quickly because I love the combination of supplies so much.

4. What are you listening to right now?

Hmmm...The Fray, Jack's Mannequin, Joshua Radin, Matt Nathanson, Explosions in the Sky, and Voxtrot. Oh, and songs from Glee!

5. Any guilty pleasures?
CW's The Vampire Diaries. I thought it was a silly show, but my sister got me into it at the beginning of this year and now I find myself anticipating the newest episode each week :)

6. Choose a layout that best represents you as a scrapbooker.

Hmm, I don't really know how to define my 'style', but perhaps this layout:



I picked this layout because it shows that I scrapbook 8.5x11 pages (I'm more comfortable with the smaller size than 12x12). I feel that my layout designs are pretty neat/clean, but I love adding details and embellishments. Oh, and I always handwrite my journaling! :)

Here are a couple more examples of Geralyn's work:


How fun are those fisheye pics?? i love the added patterned paper borders on two of her photos, and titlework here is perfect.


More beautiful titlework on this page - and I absolutely love the misted background and all of the little bits sprinkled around the page.

I hope you enjoyed this inspiration - please stop by Geralyn's gallery for even more gorgeous projects! If you have any questions for her, please ask away - I'm sure she'd be happy to answer.

Insider Tips - dye your tags using Maya Mists!

Hey everyone! :)

You know how much my Maya Mists? Well, I wanted to show you a new way to dye paper tags : I think you might like it! :)

We're going to make a layout and this is what I used for my layout :

• Anthology collection papers (including Aperture, Bouquet, Periodical)
• Anthology stickers
• Anthology Alpha stickers
• Maya Mist (Amethyst mist & Blue Raspberry mist)
• Kraft sheet
• EK Success label punch

Simply choose a cardstock that is the same color as one of your favorite alphas and glue all the letters, words, sentences you want onto your cardstock (you probably want to cut the cardstock first before adhering all the chipboards, otherwise might be a pain to cut afterwards).


Grab your kraft sheet, 2 tags and 2 small zip lock bags.


Spray Maya Mist in each plastic bag (one color per bag).


Open and put one of the tags inside a plastic bag. Use your finger to make the ink move onto the tag.


Use your heat gun to dry each tag.

Once your tag is dry and ready to use, you can also fold it and put it back into the same color bag.

All the wrinkles will get bolder and darker because of the ink. Use your heat gun to dry again.

You can use your tags the way you want. I like to use them as a new way to focuse on the photos.






Extra item I can't live without and that I used for this layout :

• Martha Stewart craft knife
• my favorite journaling pen
  

Enjoy!
Céline

The Mind Behind the Mini

I'm not much of a mini-maker. I really don't have a place to put little albums, don't want to stick them in a drawer, and most times I just don't finish them.

But this month when the big box of goodness arrived on my doorstep, I was a bit baffled with what to do with the Maya Road chipboard banners. I had recently posted some faux TTV pictures on my blog, and I thought that it would be a good idea to start a charm bracelet-esque mini for my travels. One that I can add to each time I visit a new place.


I used my most favorite Studio Calico stamps - the Noah Alphabet Set to abbreviate the cities, like "NY" , "CHI", and "NOLA."


Then on each opposing banner, I wrote what year the trip was, where we went and who I was with.


I added my pictures, some bright bits, punched holes, inked the edges with Black Staz-On, sprayed a layer of Charcoal Mist and strung it all together on a ball chain.


I'm really excited at how it turned out. Are you a mini-maker?

tutorial : misted monogram

Happy Wednesday, all!! I'm here today to share the misting technique that I used on my "B" layout in the Joyland gallery.





I have to admit that I came at this page backwards. I was flipping through Real Simple and came across this page and fell in love with the large monogram.



I loved the size of the letter in relation to the other bits and pieces on the page, as well as the detail of the thinner, curving lines within the letter. I knew I wanted to recreate the look with mist, and begun flipping through my photos and old blog entries in search of anything that lent it self to being scrapped with a monogram. When I came to an entry talking about how Ben had the longest name in his first grade class, I knew it would be the perfect story to go with my technique.



I started by printing a large "B" in light gray (to save ink) on regular printer paper. I cut out my B and placed it in about the same place as it was in my inspiration piece. I chose a simple, sans serif font - I didn't want it to compete with the other details I knew I'd be adding.



I placed the sheet in my misting box and sprayed it with turquoise mist - I concentrated most of it towards the B mask, so that the outline would be well defined.



After I'd sprayed the mist, I took my printed B and drew a thinner version and cut it out. I used this as a pattern to cut my patterned paper to fit inside the masked off B on the page. I added stitched lines curving out from the body of the B to mimic the look of the inspiration piece.



Once my monogram was finished, I added strips of patterned paper and paper tape, as well as photos in one of the K&Co Handmade frames. I used the alphabet border stamp to fill in some awkward space under my patterned paper - it fit the space and tied in to the theme. One of the Schooltime ABC borders would have worked well, too.



This could also be a really fun technique for a set of monogrammed notecards, or maybe even on place cards at a dinner party. It would also work well for any short title for a layout. I can't wait to see what you all do with it. =)

-Lisa