Mix and Match

Here's a card by Sandy made from mixing and matching scraps from past kits.

I start by cutting triangles and semi-circles for my banners from geometric-patterned paper. The grid  pocket allows me to arrange them neatly. Then I added more red elements in the form of the foral paper, sentiment label and the fussy-cut number twos. For contrast I placed a woodgrain tag into the pocket which goes to show a relatively 'dull' colour can be used effectively as an accent. Everything sits neatly on cyan cardstock with a metal clip and some baker's twine thrown in for texture.

So Cal : MME Miss Caroline Like Twine, MME Follow Your Heart Be the Best,
Leica : Bazzill Wayfarer Traveler
City of Lights : American Crafts Surf Cardstock,
Daydream Believer : Sassafras Exclusive Woodgrain Paper
Stepping Stone : Crate Paper Paper Heart Romance,
Others : American Crafts Chaps Tag, Bazzill Wayfarer (Drifter, Gadabout), paper clip

Thanks Jaime by Sandy

Six months have flown by since I joined the Scrappin Studio design team and today's post will be my  final one. My last project, a DYI Smashbook spread about what it's like  working with Studio Calico kits, includes bits and pieces gathered from all the kits I received.

I will miss the regular deliveries of Scrappin Studio cartons and can't thank Jaime enough for this wonderful opportunity. That said I look forward to scrapping inspiration from Jaime's new batch of designers who will be taking over the blog for the second half of the year.

I'm having a giveaway of these So Cal and Santa Monica stamps on my blog. Just head over and leave a comment by 2 July when I'll pick someone to receive both stamps and some embellishments from the kits.


photo credit : Studio Calico


cheers and bye, Sandy 

So Cal : Sassafras Tiny Alpha Orange & Exclusive PP, MME (Like Twine, Packaging of Follow Your Heart "Be Amazing" Button Card, On The Bright Side "Branches"), Studio Calico Alphabet, Glassine envelop
Santa Monica : MME Miss Caroline Howdy Dowdy "Like" Ledger, Studio Calico Medallion Stamp
City of Lights : American Crafts Shadow cardstock, Crate Paper Pretty Party Mixed Brads, Sassafras Exclusive PP
Sorbonne : Lily Bee Sunflower
Daydream Believer : The Gilded Bee Handmade Butterflies, Sassafras Exclusive Paper, Studio Calico Love Letter
Pleasant Valley : Dear Lizzy Cheerful Notes
Others : Studio Calico Clasic Calico Folio, Petaloo Flora Doodle, grey washi tape, dymo label maker & yellow tape, paper clips

Hi by Sandy

This card for me best captures the colour palette of this month's So Cal kit with it's blush salmon, orange and accents of aqua blue, although I did throw in a background of grass green just to mix things up.

Design-wise it's a play on the childhood game of Tic-Tac-Toe with a grid defined by lengths of baker's twine. I felt while the typography of the Thickers perfectly suited the mood of the card, its colour (off-white as you can see flower) needed punching up with a couple of swipes of brick orange ink.

A sunny, summery card to wish everyone a very happy June.

cheers, Sandy

So Cal Supplies : MME (Like Twine, Follow Your Heart "Be Amazing" Buttons), Studio Calico (Exclusive Die Cuts , Hey Girl Mini Stamp),   American Crafts (Muse Thickers, Jute, Flamingo Cardstock)
Santa Monica Supplies : Basic Grey PB&J Whole Wheat

Hey Girl by Sandy

Good design is always a source of inspiration. This month that inspiration came for me from Heidi Swapp's Destination Trimmings which is the first thing I completely used up. After the two ruffled and fringed borders made it onto my layouts, it is the turn of the packaging to spark creative ideas.

White woodgrain cardstock is used to recreate the shape of the packaging while the zebra stripes led to the idea of wrapping baker's twine in a radiating pattern. The twine supports a scattering of tiny alphas spelling out the card's sentiment.

For cardmakers feeling hesitant about using textured cardstock, here's a closeup of my stamped title. The little imperfections were covered up with my Marvy LePen which has a nice microfine nib for precision corrections.  



So Cal Supplies : LCI White Woodgrain Cardstock, American Craft Jute, Studio Calico Hey Girl Stamp, MME Follow Your Heart Be Amazing" Button Card, Pink Paislee Heidi Swapp Destinations Trimmings packaging
Santa Monica Supplies : MME Miss Caroline "Lucky Twine, Pink Paislee Pairie Hill Bitty Blocks

Two Girls by Sandy

While we experiencing a heatwave in Singapore, I decided to scrap a beach photo - one that's actually taken quite a while ago. In the background is a teal paper with tiny white dots which reminds me of the sea. Down at the bottom, anchoring everything, is a woodgrain to minic the planks on the pier.   

The design element I love most is the hexagon pattern created by fussy-cutting the lattice from MME's Honey Blue paper. In order to focus the colour scheme I chose only hexagons in blue, brown or cream (with a hint of rose thrown in as an accent).

Playing on the word 'TWO' in my title, I used two each of the small embellishments : two butterflies, two flowers and two stick pin flags. To make those flags I cut up little pennants from the card that was added in my kit to promote the upcoming Yearbook collection from Sutdio Calico.

Although by nature a straight line and right-angles sort of scrapper, I enjoy the opportunity to add a little messy to my layout with this randomly pleated border. Hope you are enjoying the June kits and getting lots of projects done with it. 

cheers, Sandy

So Cal Kit : Tim & Beck Exclusive PP, On The Bright Side "Branches" (My Mind's Eye), Follow your Heart "Be Happy" Be You (My Mind's Eye), Exclusive Die Cuts (Studio Calico), Heidi Swap Destination Trimmings (Pink Paislee), Muse Thickers (Studio Calico + American Crafts), Hey Girl Mini Stamp (Studio Calico + Hero Arts)
Butterfly Sequins, Yearbook Card
Santa Monica Kit : MME (Miss Caroline Howdy Dowdy "Like", Follow Your Heart "Be Amazing" Honey Blue) Basic Grey PB &J Whole Wheat
Others : Transparency, Stick pins

Playdate by Sandy

Hi Sandy back with another layout in the 8.5"x12" format. The colour scheme of brown/yellow/blue comes from the girls' T-shirts and blond hair. I edited the photo slightly to better suit the design : rotating it several degrees and flipping it horizontally to get a diagonal composition from the outstretched arm to the tallest girl's head.

Heidi Swap's paper trim is the most interesting element, for me, in this month's So Cal kit and I wanted to use it in a way that shows off it's 'rufflability' prominently. Cut into two inch sections, it followed the curve of the wood grain circle well and embellished it like the ruffles of a normal fabric trim would. With what's leftover I made a rolled flower for the top right corner to anchor the chipboard banner.

Another unusual product is the Smash divider tab from the April kit. I didn't have any good ideas for them until this layout where the hooks, placed at the top of the page, allowed me to dangle baker's twine and jute convincingly.

So Cal Kit : Studio Calico (Alphabet, Chevron, Hey Girl Mini Stamp ), American Crafts Jute, Heidi Swap Destination Trimmings, Echo Park Numbers
Santa Monica Kit : MME (Follow Your Heart "Be Amazing" Chipboard, Miss Caroline Howdy Dowdy "Like" Ledger, Miss Caroline "Lucky" Twine ), Echo Park Magnetic, Pebbles ABC Stickers Kraft, Kaisercraft Orchid Blossoms Resin Flowers, Studio Calico Medallion Stamp
Sorbonne Kit : Smash Divider Tabs
Others : paper clips

Vacation by Sandy

Time flies doesn't it? June is here and for Singaporean school children it's vacation time. I pulled together hot orange and sunny yellow elements from So Cal and scrapped a photo of my nephew taken on the last day of school.

Originally the background in the photo is bluish-green. I eliminated this distracting problem by printing the photo in black-and-white, which produced a bonus of turning the background grey to tie-in with the ash cardstock.

I did use a couple of extra items on this layout. Two small Sunny Skip calender rectangles from  February's Lady Lane kit and a month label from my stash.

It seemed appropriate that I pick up some knotting know-how, as there are more than 45 yards of twine in my kits. On this tag are two half-hitches which formed a secure binding.

cheers, Sandy


So Cal Kit : Bazzill Kraft Cardstock, American Crafts Ash Cashstock, MME On The Bright Side Branches, Studio Calico (Chevron, Alphabet, Exclusive Die Cuts, Packing Label), Butterfly Sequins 
Santa Monica Kit : Jillibean Soup Etched Flowers Buttons, Studio Calico Medallion Stamp, MME Miss Caroline "Lucky" Twine
Lady Lane Kit : Dear Lizzy Sunny Skip
Others : Chloe's Closet Blings Carnival Tab

Enjoy the Ride by Sandy

Two smaller projects by Sandy using the same City of Lights stamp.

When I saw  this cowgirl on a kit packing label, I thought immediately of pairing her with the sentiment stamp. They fit nicely on the Pebbles tag and, to emphasise the diagonal, I used two starbursts cut out of a Smash pocket.
 

As for the card, the design is an abstract representation of the bullet nose of a Eurostar train. I cut the tightly patterned teal paper into board stripes and created two layered V-shapes. The line of butterflies was added to breakup the strong geometrics and because I'm not really a clean-and-simple cardmaker at heart.

That's all I'll be doing with the April kits. Hope you enjoyed working with yours and I'll see you again in June.


Tag Supplies
City of Lights : Exclusive With Love Gift Tags (Pebbles), Bicycle Stamp (Studio Calico + Hero Arts) Sorbonne : Plastic SMASH Pockets (EK Success), Saint-Domingue (Kesi' Art), Packing labelOthers : silver cord
Card  Supplies:
City of Lights : Sassafras Exclusive Butterfly Stickers, American Craft Surf Cardstock, Crate Paper Pretty Party Papercloth, Studio Calico Bicycle Stamp Sorbonne : Kesi Art (Moulin du Comte 6eme, Saint Dominque)

QWERTY by Sandy Ang

Sandy with my QWERTY layout. It's a dark and moody one to match the photo of this 1970s german typewriter. Shot indoors under tungsten it's a grainy, slightly out-of-focus picture.

The background of grey/black is broken up with the buttercup yellow of a Lily Bee grid paper. It is repeated in the baker's twine and the lacy backing of my QWERTY title alphas. I've also used spots of teal as accents. They appear in the 'spine' of my yellow book and also on the wings of a parakeet brad.

This side of the layout looked a little uninspired until I hit upon the idea of propping up the photo with an oval wood frame. It also served as my third circular item, to round out the bird brad and alpha Q, per the rule of threes.

The only thing that wasn't from this month's kit was the Marcy Penner badge (placed under the bird brad) from the February Stepping Stone add-on.


City of Lights Supplies :   Exclusive Sassafras Paper 2 (Sassafras), 5 Yards of Lemon (Davine Twine), Exclusive Charcoal Alpha (Basic Grey), Papercloth (Crate), Exclusive With Love Gift Tags (Pebbles), Pretty Party Mixed Brads (Crate),
Aqua Airmail Washi Tape (Freckled Fawn), Story Teller Wood Frames (Crate)
Sorbonne Supllies : Sunflower (Lily Bee), "Story" Journal Card (My Mind's Eye), Background Stamp - triangle grid (Studio Calico + Hero Arts, Grey Alpha (Pink Paislee), 6eme (Kesi' Art), Saint-Domingue (Kesi' Art), Plastic SMASH Pockets (EK Success)
Stepping Stone Supplies : Marcy Penner Snapshot Badges

Vroom Vroom by Sandy

Sandy sharing a layout that relies mainly on the use of shapes and colour control. Starting from a photo of my friend's sky blue Vespa, I chose a handful of teal-coloured items from the kits. For contrast I picked out some brown supplies and added some yellow ones as accents.

The design is created by simply dividing the page into four rectangle blocks. To create flow I placed a series of downward arrows behind the photo. They lead to a series of bicycles stamped wavily across the bottom to connect to the journal block.

The sunburst wood shape framing the third side of my photo is about 2.5cm thick. This lead to the raised photo and journalling block which gives a nice dimensionality to the layout.

My favourite thing has to be this journal block. It's adapted from an art exhibition poster and mimics those plastic geometric shape stencils I used in school. I scattered my journalling amongs those cut-out shapes and used a variety of fonts to create interest.  

City of Lights Supplies : Studio Calico (Register, Bicycle Stamp), Crate Paper Pretty Party (Invitation, Mixed Brads), Freckled Fawn Aqua Airmail Washi Tape, Bo Buuny Khaki Dot Cardstock, American Crafts Cardstock (Surf, Shadow) Sorbonne Supplies : MME Miss Caroline Hello Die Cut Wood, EK Success Plastic Smash Pockets, Prima Typography AlphaOthers : Black Cardstock

Wait by Sandy

Sandy posting my second layout for this Month is inspired by the Style File series that's currently running in Wallpaper. Supplies are mostly from the main kit with a sprinkling (read sequins) from the Sorbonne kit.

I cut the Sassafras exclusive paper into tabbed dividers using both the front (blush florals) and the back (woodgrain).  Then layered them with some more cardstock dividers. My photos sit in the divider pockets held up by paperclips.

Quite a lot of work making the title. The tiny grey alphas form a nicely contrasting background for fussy-cut Jenni Bowlin stencil alphas. A sprinkle of bright sequins make them even more eye-catching.

Since there's an empty pocket in the left top corner, I dressed up some kraft tags with a transparency cut out of Smash pockets and sliped them in there.


City of Lights Kit : Sassafras Exclusive Paper #SC10010, American Crafts Cardstock Shadow, Jenni Bowlin Stencil Lettering Guide, Crate Paper Pretty Party Brads, Pebbles With Love Tags,
Sorbonne Kit : EK Sucess Divider Smash Tabs (packaging),  EK Sucess Plastic Smash Pockets,  Pink Paislee Grey Alpha, Cartwright Sequins, Studio Calico Background Stamp (packaging)
Others : Black cardstock, Versa Color Vanilia, paperclips

Play School by Sandy

Hi it's Sandy posting my school-theme layout today.  I received the main kit City of Lights and the Sorbonne add-on this month. Inspired by the Kesi' Art papers in the add-on, I made this.

To get both the pie-chart (a-side) and the dusty chalkboard background (b-side) from the CE2 paper took some careful planning plus a little piecing effort. All other elements like the alphas, washi tape, brads, twine were chosen to complement the colours in that pie-chart.

I had fun with the plastic smash pockets, taking apart the one with a blue frame to create a faux teal pocket. In the close-up you can see how I inked over the alphas to get a chalky white which stood out better against the black background.

Stationery supplies are inspiring me right now. I'm thinking file folders and tabs for my next layout using the City of Lights kit . . .


City of Lights Supplies : Crate Paper Pretty Party (Papercloth, Epoxy Brads), Freckled Lawn Aqua Airmail Washi Tape, Jenni Bowlin Stencil, American Craft Cardstock
Sorbonne Supplies : Kesi' Art (Moulin du Comte CE2 & 6eme, Saint Domingue Itinerance, ), K&Company (Plastic Smash  Pockets, Divider Smash Tabs), Oyster Twine, Prima Alphabet Stickers
Others : paper clip, Versa colour white ink

On Crafting by Sandy

Studio Calico's February kits really drew me out of my scrapping comfort zone. I enjoyed experimenting with new colour and pattern combinations and even made my own rosette / flower out of the Pink Paislee pinked trim. In my books that deserves a layout.    

My next project shows off some ATCs created at a crop. The photo of an altered drinking glass filled with sweet lemon balm inspired a floral direction for the layout. The design focused on the idea of tabs. I used an actual metal index clip and also created the illusion of tabs using phrase stickers and a journal card.  

Finally a name card with a matching holder. If you love Sassafras' Starters collection, there is an exclusive paper in the main kit that carries on the theme. It's my favourite thing from this month's kit and I couldn't resist using it to make my calling card.   

Tomorrow Jaime will be revealing the new challenge. It's a fun one and I hope you like my take on it.

My First Kit Layout
Daydream Believer Supplies : American Crafts Ladybug Cardstock, Bazzil Kraft Cardstock, Studio Calico Love Letter, Pebbles Hip Hip Hooray Yay, Pink Paislee Mistables Pinked Trim, Packing Card
Stepping Stone Supplies : Crate Paper Love Letter & Delivery, Marcy Penner Snap Shot Badge
Daydream Believer Photo Credit : Studio Calico

So Crafty Layout 
Daydream Believer Supplies : Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Sea Breeze, Sassafras Exclusive Paper SC10009
Stepping Stone Supplies : Authentique Gathering Bloom & Diction, Crate Paper Paper Heart Love Letter & Romance, October Afternoon Farmhouse Journal Card
Others : 7 gypsies index tab, doily

Name Card
Daydream Believer Supplies : Sassafras Exclusive Paper SC10008, American Craft Cardstock Ash, Dear Lizzy Epoxy Stickers
Stepping Stone Supplies : MME Everyday Funday Neutral Rhinestones, Studio Calico Alphabet Stamp Set

New Shoes by Sandy

Sandy posting a layout with a gimmicky photo today. Here's how we did it. My niece laid down and propped her feet against a bougainvillea shrub. Pointing the camera upwards, we got a shot with nice depth of field 'beneath' her new flip flops. 


The Dreamy paper already came with some water-stained effects on the edges. To add more depth in the background, I flicked some white mist around and softly stamped some circles. For a loose and carefree look, my paper elements only had adhesive in the middle. Some were simply sewn on with hapazard stitching. These allowed the edges to be lifted slightly off the page for a more dimensional effect.


Salmon from the Dreamy paper and the butterfly, and beiges from the journal cards tie in beautifully with the sandals in my photo. This journal card with it's bright scarlet border was added to give my project a boost of colour. The Thickers were painted the same red and positioned to form a visual triangle anchoring the photo.

But the February kit isn't all soft and dreamy. You can also take it in a modern, graphic direction like I did with these two celebration cards.

Layout
Daydream Believer Supplies : Dear Lizzy Neapolitan (Delightful Bouquet, Sea Breeze, Hazy Horizon), Sassafras Exclusive paper #SC10009, American Crafts Natural Thickers,  The Gilded Bee Handmade Butterfly
Stepping Stones Supplies : Ocotber Afternoon  (Farmhouse Journal Cards,Buttons),  Authentique Petite Type Square, Marcy Penner Snap Shot Badges
Others : acrylic paint, ink, mist

Cards
Daydream Believer Supplies : Sassafras Exclusive paper #SC10008, Pebbles Happy Day
Steeping Stones Supplies : Crate Paper Delivery, Studio Calico Alphabet Stamp

Delighted by Sandy

Sandy's back today with a slightly eclectic pocket card. My love for stationery supplies show through on this project. I'm continuing to explore the greens and beiges in the kits - adding a healthy dose of yellow to the mix.

One way of stretching my kit is to utilise packaging materials. The Studio Calico frame stamp has a deep chocolate header that complemented the rest of my card. Turned upside down, it worked nicely to anchor my collage.

What have you been making with your kit ? Leave a link in the comment as I'd love to come see it.


Daydream Believer Supplies : Studio Calico Mini Frame Stamp (packaging), American Crafts Dear Lizzy Epoxy Stickers , Dear Lizzy Neopolitan Hazy Horizon, Pebbles Candy Bag,  Sassafras Exclusive paper #SC100009, Gilded Bee Handmade Butterflies 
Stepping Stone supplies : Authentique Gathering Diction sticker, October Afternoon Farmyard Journal Cards, Studio Calico Alphabet Stamp Set, MME Everyday Fun Neutral Rhinstones
Other supplies : baker's twine

Pothos by Sandy Ang

Hi everyone it's Sandy ! I'm thrilled to be on the Scrappin Studio team. Jaime sent me the main kit Daydream Believer as well as add-on #4 Stepping Stone. So look out for projects from me every Sunday in February using these goodies.

We are smack in the middle of monsoon season in Singapore. All that rain encouraged my garden plants to grow like crazy. So last weekend I tackled a list of horticultural chores - including trimming back the pothos (or money plant).



This 8.5"x11" layout captures the moment when the chores were done and I could put my gloves and tools down. Seeing how well the garden looked made all that labour (and aching back) worth while.



My product choices were driven by the colours in my photo : green, cream, orange and black. I printed "GARDENIIIING" in Gills San MT Condensed font on the Sassafras Exclusive Woodgrain paper on the left. The "Pothos" title was created with American Crafts Natural Thickers. I use a micro brush to apply layers of inks to the raw chipboard alphas and finish them off with a coat of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.



Have fun working with your February kits. And don't forget to play along with our challenge to win an Into the Woods Main Kit. More details can be found here.

Daydream Believer supplies : Bazzil Kraft cardstock, American Craft Ash cardstock Sassafras Exclusive paper #SC100009, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Delightful Bouquet paper, American Crafts Natural Thickers, Studio Calico Mini Frame Stamp, Dear Lizzy Epoxy Sticker (packaging)

Stepping Stone supplies : Authentique Bloom paper, Authentique Gathering Diction sticker, Crate Paper Paper Heart Delivery paper, Marcy Penner Snap Shot Badges, October Afternoon Farmyard buttons, vintage Stockyard Number Cards, Studio Calico Alphabet Stamp Set (packaging)

Other supplies : paper clip, white cardstock, inks, mist, thread