a different kind of December kit...Metropolitan.

in the best way possible. December kits are hard...typically the first reaction is to stuff them with themed product and

that is tough for me. i'm not really a huge holiday/themey scrapper, and while i love how festive all of the Christmas/Winter product looks when it appears...it stumps me.

enter Studio Calico's Metropolitan kit.

the Main is chock full of lovely teals/greens/yellows...and 2 custom-designed SC papers AS WELL AS 2 custom-to-this-kit SASSAFRAS PAPERS!!

as in, you cannot get these exclusive papers anywhere BUT this kit.

and if you have a yearning for the Christmas-y stuff, here's an extra incentive to pick up the Holiday Lights add-on: here's what i came up with this month...

i am not always a huge Basic Grey fan, but i LOVED this paper with the cityscape...so i cut out a strip of it to use on my 'Tech Savvy' page. i spritzed the grey cardstock with some Mister Huey Calico White (how does anyone NOT own this by now?!), and just started building layers. the envelope was PERFECT to house my journaling...which is about how today, nobody writes letters anymore, lol! i stamped on the inside flap of the envelope with the cool globe stamp from the Main Kit + some Jenni Bowlin Lemon Drops ink.

Calico White Mister Huey, Lemon Drops Ink, Bracket Border Punch.

this next one uses up a big chunk of that KI calendar paper i've been preaching about. i cut the bracket border off to save for a later page...i am seriously in LOVE with this paper (and at 99cents for STITCHED, DOUBLE-SIDED paper, i WILL get more). used the awesomely awesome Days of the Week stamps along the side (colored in with some paints using a fine brush from this set), and stamped again with the globe stamp (this time with the JBS Malted Milk ink) to highlight what a crazy week in our girl's life is like right now. for fun, i had her sign the bottom...and i used one of the Paddington tags to represent her age. don't be afraid to cut up those crazy cool squigglies from the KI stickers...i did here, and it turned out kind of fun! i also discovered how cool the American Crafts Mix Tape is...used as 'tape' and for kicks, i stuck a long piece onto cardstock and then punched a border out with it!

JBS Malted Milk Ink, Days of the Week Stamps, Butterfly Punch.

next? a Halloween layout. that's right...HALLOWEEN, lol. (told you this was versatile!)

this one is made entirely from the Busy Sidewalks add-on...a 'Christmas' add-on. but i thought the sparkle and bling worked well for these fun pics from Halloween, so i rolled with it lol. i cut the inside of the My Mind's Eye ticket out (just wanted the red glittery border for the frame), cut up the blingy snowflake frame and used bits of it as 'arrows' along the left side and made my own fun border on the right by cutting the snowfakes out of the centers of the hexagons with my Fiskars Fingertip Craft knife...then spritzed with Sunshine Mister Huey.

Busy Sidewalks add-on, Sunshine Mister Huey, Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife, Lemon Drops Paint Dauber

as mentioned, i don't usually wander into holiday layouts...but this one was fun to put together. brought out my Months of the Year stamps (yes they are a perfect match to the Days of theWeek!) + the Jett Numbers Stamp Set...and grabbed bits that were laying arond my desk, including one of the flaps from a red Making Memories envelope. ($4 for 40 of these = CHEAP!)

Making Memories envelopes, Paddington Tags, Months Stamps, Jett Numbers Stamps

lastly, this one here...again, made with bits of loveliness on my desk that i couldn't bare to throw away. i punched the Paddington Tags with my Postage Stamp punch, as the size of the original
tags was a bit too much for this page.

Postage Stamp Punch, Postage Stamp Border Punch

all in all, this kit was a BLAST to use.

enjoy your week...and don't forget, no additional shipping charges for shop items & addons!!

(and if some of the SC Shop Items you were coveting sold out before you could grab them, 2peas is still shipping orders of $25 or more for FREE!!)

:)

(SERIOUS) Black Friday deals.

i may be late to the sale...but i would feel awful if i didn't stress the DEALS going down at the Studio Calico Black Friday Tag Sale!
Typeset Rub-on...several colors available, but i love the grey the best. {now $1.13}Mini Starburst Stamp {$0.88?!?!?!? INSANE}















Smile Stamp...could totally use just the brackets if you ink it just right. {now $1.75}

Harper's Ruler Stamp...a fave for obvious reasons. {now $2.20, but i was biased even at full price, lol}

Dollhouse paper...the original banner pattern that many have tried to duplicate! {now $0.21} Hot Air Balloon Rub-ons...SO many uses. {now $1.25}

Camera Rub-ons...again, several colors offered but i am partial. {now $2.25} Anthology Alpha Stickers...TWO great fonts for ONE CRAZY PRICE!! {now $1.75}

Addy Alphabet Stamp Set...sweet + sized just right = perfection. {now $4.50}

now.

all of these will ship with your December kits...NO EXTRA SHIPPING CHARGES.

even if you order only one of what i've listed, you'd only spend about $16.
for ALL of those stamps + paper + rub-ons + stickers.

but i dare you not to check out the Sale Section and see what else you can't pass up.

;)

these 2 yahoos.

gratitude.
being thankful.
here are the top 2 things on my list this Thanksgiving...

snapped a few pics last week on the way to soccer...and decided to use them on a layout for the SC blog. i'll admit it...for a split second, after looking at these and thinking about their relationship, i was jealous.

of how tight they are.
of how sometimes she'd rather confide in him than me.
of how they finish each other's sentences.
of how much love they have between them.

and then i realized, that is crazy lol.
that is exactly how it is supposed to be for a father & daughter.
(i may or may not have been the very same way with my Dad)

i am so grateful for each of them...for what they bring to my life.

but more than anything, i am blessed for what they give to each other...without even knowing it.

i destructed one of the Notions tissue flowers and discovered that they have a lovely scalloped border...WHO KNEW?!?! so i used that puppy along the side of my journaling, after spritzing it with some Sunshine Mister Huey.

it took awhile for the DT to get their hands on the veneer items...they couldn't fill the orders fast enough to the retailers, it seems!! it was worth the wait though...they are such a cool treat for projects. totally different than anything out there, and you get TWO of each sheet of the frames/stars in each pack!!

i sprayed mine with the Schoolhouse, Sunshine and Atmosphere Mister Huey mists...and rubbed off most of the ink before it dried. cool effect...more of a 'stain' this way, and you can still see the woodgrain peeking through.

as mentioned in my last post, the Veneer Frames, Veneer Stars, Veneer Alphabets and Notions Tissue Flowers are on sale right now at 2peas...and you only need to spend $25 to get FREE SHIPPING!

a little Black Friday shopping for you, i say...as a reward for shopping for everyone else!

hope you enjoy your family today.
i'm off to whip up a 'Black Friday Plan of Action' for my mama and i to follow tonight when we veture out with all the crazies, lol.

Metropolitan Sneaks...round two.

as promised...i have a few more snippets of the December Studio Calico kit to share. Postage Stamp border punch, Postage Stamp punch

Schoolhouse Mister Huey, Red Twine

it's funny...i suppose it's natural to be drawn to certain items. as seen in these sneaks, i used every last bit of that KI Lagoon Calendar paper lol...MUST BUY MORE!! (i mean, $0.99 for STITCHED, DOUBLE-SIDED GRAPH PAPER?!?!)

will share a fun layout tomorrow re: gratitude...it may or may not feature a few fun ways to use the Studio Calico veneer letters/frames/tissue paper flower Notions which i just noticed are ON SALE at 2peas right now...and $25 gets you free shipping AND a free gift!!

hope you all have an awesome Turkey Day!

maybe it's the season?

i don't know.

but i was in a shopping kinda mood...and i'm noticing a trend.

it's funny, it wasn't until i got to looking at my list of things i want to pick up next weekend at my fave LSS (2 hours away...i'm sure my mama will be up for a road trip!), and got to the checkout screen at 2peas that it caught me.

see if you can guess lol. (OA Modern Homemaker 'Clothespins' paper)

I am not crazy about the entire Homemaker line, but this one will be purchased for sure...love it.

(Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 'Chaplin' paper)

numbers have always been a 'thing' for me...i'm sucker for a good number print and this one knocks it out of the park.

(Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 Chipboard)

did i mention i love numbers? :P

(OA Schoolhouse Number Cards)

hey, what do you know?! NUMBERS AGAIN!!

(BG Curio Collection Pack)

this collection landed on my doorstep a few weeks ago, and i fell in love. so, naturally...i went seeking for other pieces to it.
(BG Curio Small Details)

uh, yeah. loving ALL of the 'Small Details' that BG has introduced for all of their lines, but this one is a definite.

(BG Curio Chip Alphabet)

like i can resist an awesome chipboard alpha, with ALL of those vowels in such a great font?!

(Martha Stewart Office Tags)

sweet niblets. office supply + kraft + twine + cool colors of the reinforcement labels.
done. deal.

(Martha Stewart star shaped food picks)

i have no desire to make food fancy enough to be adorned with one of these, lol...but they WILL show up on a layout. who doesn't love stars?!

(Martha Stewart 4x12 paper pad)

last but not least...Martha. you crazy girl. you made a paper pad that is perfect just for BORDERS or PUNCHES?!??! I LOVE YOU!! and side note: is that a gorgeous RED WOODGRAIN i see in there?!?!

i hesitated.

until i realized the Martha stuff i was eyeing up was 30% off right now at 2peas, lol.

so.

to summarize.

i am drawn to red right now.

i'll blame it on the season.

:)

Metropolitan Sneaks...round one.

hey everyone.

just sharing my first round of sneaks for the Studio Calico December kit...Metropolitan.
(i say first, because i love this one so much i must make more)

just a side note: the Elementary line AND the Mister Huey mists were made available in the shop last evening...so if you've been waiting to order it from SC, WAIT NO MORE!! (split up your order this month...you know you'll want tons of the December stuff, and by shopping for some of it now...less suspicion will be raised when it plops onto your doorstep, lol)

on to the sneaks...

you may or may not see a shop item in this one. and i may or may not have used the Sunshine Mister Huey to death thus far with this kit...shhhhhhhhhhhhhh. in case you missed the announcement, Sassafras was kind enough to design TWO papers EXCLUSIVE to the Main Kit for us this month...and they are awesome. the ONLY way to get them is either purchasing the Main Kit or the SC Patterned Paper add-on. (or both, lol) so not only are there TWO exclusive SC papers, there are also TWO exclusive Sassafras papers!

i am in love with the Jenni Bowlin inks. and the stamp in the Main Kit. both seen here on the inside of the envelope. and the Classic White Mister Huey? it is stunning against this grey cardstock, isn't it?

the above layout is using only add-on #2...Busy Sidewalks. being the rebel that i sometimes am, i made a Halloween layout with it. more Mister Huey...and my fave bracket punch of course. i cut the snowflakes out of the centers of the BG paper with this really cool Fiskars tool, spritzed on the Sunshine Huey and said to heck with this being a 'Christmas-themed add-on'!!

see?

me = rebel.


this last one shows another loooooooooooong awaited shop item...the Days of the Week stamps to accompany the Months of the Year stamps. uh...i love them. like, LOVE. also, in the left corner you can see the lovely Malted Milk JBS ink that pretty much rocks.

stay tuned for another sneak or two in the coming week!!

rethINKing your stamps.

hey guys!

i did a tutorial over on the Studio Calico blog a bit ago about thinking of different ways to use some of your favorite stamps...and i just thought i'd post it here as well!

start with a few supplies: Fence/Alpha Border set, Design set from the Mendocino add-on (still available)

<

it was love at first stamp for this alpha border...just stamp randomly with your favorite ink. (i'm in LOVE with the new Jenni Bowlin ink pads...i've already picked up Lemon Drops, Malted Milk and Spice Tin...thinking Fountain Pen and Seed Packet may need to find their way to me next month, lol)

random stamping...or is it?? ;)

i colored in a few letters with a red pen, but paint + a tiny brush is my favorite way to use this.

next, grab the 'Design' word from the Mendocino add-on set...ink it up, stamp the entire word...then re-ink ONLY the 'E'. since it's this fun script font, it's easy to line it up with the tail of the 'N'. then, ink ONLY the 'D'...stamp it, my friend!

voila!

'design' becomes 'designED' right before your very eyes!!

i spritzed some kraft cardstock with Applejack Mr. Huey mist and cut a border with the bracket punch. then i outlined the stamped word with a fine black pen, added a few clouds punched from some papers i had laying around (using the Large and XL cloud punches) and added the balloon rub-on + an initial for my daughter. (this wood grain alphabet is my favorite EVER from SC...glad to see you can still find it, even though it's getting scarce!!)

luckily, Allie doesn't care that her mama isn't the fanciest card maker in town, lol...she loved finding it tucked into her bookbag at school this week. :)

so don't forget to re-thINK your stamps...who doesn't want to get more bang for their scrappy buck??

Cocoa Daisy Poker Face layouts...

just a quick thank you to all of the kind words and congratulations that have come in as a result of my CK Dream Team post...i may be nervous, but i'm ready to jump right in!!

as mentioned a few weeks ago, i was invited to play with Cocoa Daisy's November kit as their guest this month. the yellows in this one had me as soon as i unwrapped my box...in case it wasn't already obvious from my layouts, lol.

i borrowed the kit name for this first one...it was Allie's biggest attempt EVER at keeping a poker face. i snapped these pics while Mike was loading the car this summer to drop her off at a week long soccer camp 90 minutes from home, where she got to live on a colleg campus for the week. she was ALL ABOUT it...until this moment. in the end, she had a blast...but it was sketchy for a bit. had fun using up bits of paper laying around my desk from the other projects i'd finished with the kit...always cool when you can salvage those random bits!

this next one actually used a photo from last autumn, when she was 10. see the teal/black scalloped edge peeking out from the ledger border alongside the photo? that's the negative from the Crate Paper Restoration border stickers...how could i toss those?!

from the last day of school back in June...and how excited she was about all of the things that come along with starting middle school. how GORGEOUS is that doily stamp from the kit!? Kim Watson designed it...and it turned out pretty dang awesome, if i may say so. i borrowed the blue from the strip of ruler paper to let it stand out...all it took was some VersaMark + Zing embossing powder.

this last one is my fave, i think. she had these nerd glasses from a costume long ago, and was feeling silly one day...so naturally i grabbed my camera, lol. i cut out two of the playing card images from one of the pieces of paper that add up to 11...her age at aforementioned time of silliness...and substituted another wallet sized photo for them.

cut some of the flowers from the Pink Paislee Sweetness paper that is in the add-on, which helped to tie in that green polka dot paper i love. (also cut the brown border from this piece of Pink Paislee Sweetness) i used my Slice + the Just Chillin' Teen cartridge (which, thanks to the Hands Free Kit i can't put the dang Slice down...i LOVE it now!) to cut the title out of kraft cardstock...and worked it into my journaling. (tracing around it with a fine pen helped it stand out just the right amount) punched a bit of that same Pink Paislee paper with the Real Estate Sign punch to house the '{a' portion of the title, added a few punched butterflies and a chipboard flower (typically my nemesis, lol...but it worked here i think) and called it a day.

make sure you check out Cocoa Daisy's site...i think they still have the Main Kit available, and i'd hate for you to miss out!

so, um...wow!

been holding this in for awhile, but can now share!!

something REALLY cool happened a few months back...i was invited to be part of this:

uh, wha?!

to say i was shocked at that initial email would be an understatement.
to say that i've been even MORE shocked at how welcoming (and fun) these ladies have been thus far is beyond words!

i've read this magazine for as long as i've been scrapbooking...
i even remember the first time they requested a layout of mine.

(still one of my all-time fave Studio Calico layouts, by the way lol...from the July 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes)

anyway.
fast forward to a few months ago and while i thought that the initial shock would have worn off...

buuuuut...it hasn't.
:)

i'm so flattered to be working alongside the other gals listed in this post...and grateful for the opportunity to work with the fabulous Editorial team at Creating Keepsakes magazine.

(did i mention that i may have called my husband, and there may have been screeching involved?)

whew.
the secret's out...
and i'm more excited than ever!