Studio Calico Odyssey reveal

I am so thrilled to be contributing to the gallery at Studio Calico with the March card kit - Odyssey!

Unfortunately not all the items in the kit were available when they shipped it to me (... sigh... those gold labels didn't make it to me.. and I didn't receive the MME flair buttons either) so I can't show you everything that's in the kit... but I sure made the most of what I got. :) I also used the washi strips add on (you get 2 sheets with 6 different designs).

I made a *ton* of cards! 15 to be precise, and I am in no way done with this kit. I still have lots of paper left, and a cute wood veneer alligator (I'm hoarding that to be used on a scrapbook page, actually).

Stamps are my favorite thing, and the ones in this card kit were to much fun to use! In fact, only 2 of the 15 cards I made don't have any stamping (shown above). I believe I've used every stamp in the set. :)

I also used a couple of digital items (the Anniversary scrapbook stamp and this awesome ampersand background cut file by Paige Evans - it comes in different sizes so you can use it on scrapbook pages, cards and in Project Life).

The plastic "hey" word that comes in the kit can be used as a stencil (I did that to cut out the blue patterned paper above) or as a mask as I did on these two cards. You could also use the plastic word directly on a card, but I didn't because I know I'll be using this mask over and over.

I used ink pads, watercolors, embossing powders and mists on my cards. These stamps are so versatile!

There is a great offer for new subscribers: you can start a new subscription and get 50% off the first month. Use the following codes at checkout (until 3/26):
scrapbook: LOVESC50
project life: LOVEPL50
card: LOVECD50
And if you follow this link to sign up, we will both get $5 towards add on purchases.

There's also a fabulous offer for new subscriptions for current subscribers: if you sign up with one of these codes, you save 50% off your first month of a new subscription and enjoy RISK FREE, no commitment required! Use the following codes at checkout:
scrapbook: RISKFREESC50
project life: RISKFREEPL50
card: RISKFREECD50
The offer is valid through 11:59 PM EST on 3/26/15.

I have been a subscriber to the Project Life kit since it was first offered in January of 2013 (and I love it!), and I used this offer to pick up the Odyssey scrapbook main kit at 50% off. It's just too gorgeous to pass!

ETA: Bundling* has been extended for subscribers to 11:59 PM EST today (March 2nd).
*One of the perks of being a subscriber is that all orders made between the 27th of the month and the end of the month get bundled and shipped together.

Spring?

Mari Koegelenberg has a fun set of new spring products in the store, and they are all $1 through the weekend! I used them to scrap some photos from last year.

Credits:

Bloom and Grow papers, Bloom and Grow elements, Spring Fling stamps, Bloom and Grow by Mari Koegelenberg and Mommyish

Spring still feels far away, but I loved playing with these pretty colors!

Hello Friday!

Hello and happy Friday! Today is an awesome day with some great new releases! First off, this gorgeous kit by Valorie Wibbens at The Lilypad.

I was inspired by this pretty background paper for the design of my page.

Next, creashens has a lovely new kit. The colors are so peaceful and serene!

  

Here's what I scrapped with it.

I cannot believe that February is practically over!! It has gone by so fast.. it was a good month.

Studio Calico Guest Contributor for March

I am so excited to be contributing to the Odyssey Card kit gallery at Studio Calico in March! I want to share here a sneak of all the cards I made with the kit. I was very productive, and put together 15 cards (yes, fifteen!). :)

The animal stamps in the Odyssey card kit are just so cute and versatile! I had fun stamping them, embossing them and watercoloring them.
The kits go for sale at 12 PM EST on Friday, Feb. 27th, and 12 hours later for everyone else.

There is a great offer for new subscribers: you can start a new subscription and get 50% off the first month. Use the following codes at checkout:
scrapbook: LOVESC50
project life: LOVEPL50
card: LOVECD50
And if you follow this link to sign up, we will both get $5 towards add on purchases.

There's also a fabulous offer for current subscribers only: if you sign up for a new subscription with one of these codes, you save 50% off your first month of a new subscription and enjoy RISK FREE, no commitment required! Use the following codes at checkout:
scrapbook: RISKFREESC50
project life: RISKFREEPL50
card: RISKFREECD50
The offer is valid through 11:59 PM EST on 3/26/15.
Also, if you follow this link to sign up, we will both get $5 towards add on purchases.

I have been a subscriber to the Project Life kit since it started in January of 2013 (and I love it!), and I will use this offer to pick up the scrapbook main kit.

Today Was Good

Happy Wednesday! Wednesday isn't just the middle of the week.. it's also the day of 50% sale on select products at The Lilypad. And this week's products are awesome! I combined a few to make this page.

Credits:

Little Charmer Backgrounds, Little Charmer Basics Elements by Laurie Ann

Be Your Best Cards by CD Muckosky

The Golden Friends fonts by Heather Joyce

I love how it turned out!

So Totally Awesome

I don't use my Silhouette digital cutter nearly as often as I should, but when I saw these cards by Ali Edwards I knew I wanted to cut them out!

I enlarged the card and cut it out with my Silhouette. Then I backed it with patterned paper that matched my photos.

I even added some stamping to go with the theme of my journaling.

So fun!

February Mixed Media Monthly

It's time for the new Mixed Media Monthly kit at The Lilypad!

Here's what I made with this pretty kit.

The background papers are so cool that they totally make the page on their own!

It was so quick to put these pages together! I love how well everything in the kit goes together.

Hybrid Page

I am reposting a quick hybrid tutorial I made for the write.click.scrapbook blog.

I ventured into scrapbooking from the digital side and, while I still do all-digital pages, now I also love incorporating digital designs in my paper pages. Digital designs are so easy to use. They can be as simple as adding an overlay on top of your photos, or they can be used to jumpstart the page's design, like in the example I will show today. What I really like about it is that I can plan my page on the computer before committing to paper.

The start: on the computer
For this page, I used a set of digital brushes by Ali Edwards called Who What Where Why Boxes. I was inspired by this set of brushes to make a page about me, so I selected four boxes that would help me tell the story. I laid them out on my canvas in Photoshop, and picked four photos to go along with them. I also changed the color of the boxes. I laid everything out in a nice grid design.

This could very well be a digital page as is, and could be completed by adding some simple journaling. Instead, I decided to turn it into a hybrid page -- this means that I printed out the digital elements and my photos, and combined them with some papers and embellishments from my stash.

Print
I print everything at home - it's so much easier for me to be able to go from computer to paper in one click and a few seconds. I recently got a new printer and I like the quality of the prints. For this page, I wanted to add some texture, so I decided to print the digital brushes on vellum paper. I printed the photos on photo paper.

Match with other supplies
Next, I picked a neutral background paper from my stash (by Basic Grey). I also used some letter stickers (Simple Stories) to add a few words under each box. I used colored brads to attach the vellum boxes to my page.

I stitched down the letter stickers with my sewing machine. At first, when I laid out my page on the computer, I was planning to make an 8.5"x11" page. But then, after placing the photos and boxes on the background, I liked the white space on the side, and decided to keep it and add a stamped title.

And there you have it!

I love the texture that these boxes add to my page with the see-through effect.

And now.. I'd love to hear from you! Do you incorporate digital designs in your pages? Leave me a comment and let me know!