It's all Documentary - Studio Calico blog hop

What a great day for a blog hop! The long weekend is over, the kids are in school (maybe), and you are already 4 days from another weekend. What a great day to be inspired and maybe win a prize.

I'm so honored to share with you the mid-release from Studio Calico called Documentary. This is by far my favorite release thus far with a delicious color palette and coveted A and B side prints to the patterned papers.

I was going to share the different elements to the Documentary line, but as you are visiting each of the designer blogs, I'm assuming many of us will be doing that, so instead I'm going to share the layout I created, and then show what products I used.

The base of my layout is the Itinerary pattern, which is a fun and appropriate piece for my sweet subject. Morgan made each of the girls flower and leaf collecting books, and they have spent the last few days filling them up with various specimens around our yard, and even took them to Grandma and Grandpa's the other day for some of their flowers. (I had to have a chat about which flowers you can and canNOT just yank off their stems though, lol). (Itinerary pattern)

In case you missed it in my last post, I've become quite obsessed with my label punch, and if youhaven't gotten yet you are going to want one reaaaaaaally bad. quite soon. Just an FYI, lol. I inked the edges of the labels with my trusty antique linen ink. It worked well against the kraft.


With this closeup you can see I used the fabrips, the sticker sheet as a border to my photo, Camera shy, the orange, the B side to Window seat, and the leaves were made with Holiday. You can also see a nibble of my favorite jute (and if you haven't picked up any jute you'd better run, run I say to the shop. I hear they aren't going to be stocking it anymore. I'm going to have to get myself a whole bolt or two. I love it so much!)


(sticker sheet)


(fabrips)


(Camera Shy)

(Window Seat)

(Holiday)



To do my title and the stitching, I took a trusty dessert plate from my Fiestaware, blue, if you must know, and traced it on the page, stitched over it in red, and then erased the line. For some reason I've been doing a lot of curved titles lately, I like the look, and I wanted a good line to follow. Of course I had to stitch! I used the grey alpha from the alpha sheet for this title.

Something else I should mention regarding this new line is the color.... PURPLE. I don't particularly care for this color in scrapbook paper myself, but let's face it, Payton looks good in purple, and it just so happens to be her current favorite color. Sometimes I have a hard time scrapbooking my favorite photos because the glaring purple of her ensemble clashes with the prints I want to use.

So keep that in mind when considering this line. Documentary? Gal dang it just works with purple. Works well, (and I added some purple buttons to my layout, just to show you).

So there you have it. Hey, since you are here.... would you be interesting in winning the whole line? Because if this is something you think you'd like to try, you just might leave a comment on this post. Because I'd love to give away some of it. All of it. Comments will be closed at midnight PST of the 1st of June (on my blog. My European friends, it'll be June 2 or so for you. :) ).

BUT you can also find it in stores. It's at 2peasinabucket and for a slightly better deal at my other favorite online store, amillionlittlethings.

There are several chances to win this collection. Each of the designers at Studio Calico is giving away the entire collection, and you can also win it at the Studio Calico blog, so be sure to check everyone. For now, though, I'm going to direct you the next designer in line, and that's Emily. Go there and tell her you came from my blog!

One last thing... If any of the aforementioned products tempted you, or you have a last minute item you'd like to add to your order before the carts close and boxes are packed, let you be tempted by this:

Word. The SHOP IS HERE. I'd highly recommend the Basic Grey Basics paper packs. They are a new staple at my house, and 20% off cannot be ignored. :) Not a bad price for a vintage receipt holder either.

Now good luck! And have a great day! And enjoy June! And I hope you have sun! Or shade if you've had too much!

Davinie

Partly Sunny. Ish.

The kit is live!

Partly Sunny is now available for purchase at the shop. I purchased 2 of the 4 add-ons this month, Rec League and Front Porch. I had some of the alphas and the Crate paper from the other two. I also purchased more add-on paper this month, and holy heck, that package was packed. That was a good purchase.

Check it out:




Here's what I came up with this month:


I've had this photo of Payton for two years, and just came the the point where I needed to get it adhered to patterned paper before I forgot the story behind it. I kept putting it aside, waiting for the perfect kit. It was time to get it used.

I used the K & Co. fabric swatches in two places on this layout, behind the flower, and in thin strips along the striped patterned paper. That burlap-ish swatch was my favorite piece in the package.

Of course I had to do a two pager this month too. This layout was about Payton and her time as a Blue Dolphin for Spring soccer. She was just so darn cute! I included some of my favorite photos taken of her during game time for this layout.

Banners are popular and I was just about to use the stamp when I decided to make my own using more fabric swatches.

To create them. i trimmed a piece of cardstock 1.5 inches wide by 2 inches. I then made a mark halfway at .75 inches, and trimmed from the corner down to that mark to create my triangle. I then freehanded it and laid this cardstock piece over the fabric and trimmed it out with scissors. I didn't want to make it too intricate or precise. I also wanted to do it quickly.

I love how it turned out!

I had a lot to say with my journaling for this layout. Mykids are in a couple of frustrating stages right now, and one day I just needed a moment to stir dinner by myself. I walked around the corner to find Steve playing doctor with the kids in the hallway, and it warmed my heart because he had worked one day for a coworker, so had just come home from a 72 hour shift at the fire station, so I knew he was beat. But I really appreciated that 5 minutes.

I'm a bit obsessed with my label punch and really like using all three labels together. In the not so distant future, you are REALLY going to wish you had this punch. So if you don't have it, I strongly encourage you to pick up the EK Success label punch. Run to the shop, people, run to the shop. And HINT HINT.

I also did a wee bit of hand stitching on this page. I thought that K & Co tape from Front Porch looked like little buttons, so took out my DMC floss and stitched through the little button eyes for some additional detail. I really like it with those fun Martha buttons in Rec League!

This last layout was therapy for me. The subject was thereaputic to create art around, and the technique was a great stress release. I love when that happens sometimes.

I trimmed squares from different patterns and used my corner rounder and antique linen ink. I then trimmed a couple of squares from that swatch I love and distressed them a bit. I then laid them out, stuck them down without worrying about precision, and stitched.

I really liked that ferry girl and the images on the Webester's Pages paper. I didn't get Picket Fence, but it was in the more add-on paper pack.

I do have a card to share, but can't until June 1. I was asked to contribute to the Card Maps at Pagemaps this month, so I'll share it after the new images are released. It was a fun sketch to play with.

So that's it with me and Partly Sunny.

June 1 is going to bring a few things, including the next round of Project 12, and maybe some little Documentary fun with my fellow designers at Studio Calico.

A lot of fun is coming up!

Oh! Here's a hint about July. SSShhhh. But Knick Knacks? The add-on from Granny's Cupboard that was restocked? Knick Knacks would totally blend with the next kit. Documentary too. Totally. I really have to have it now. I am in serious withdrawals without that cloud stamp, for one.

Have a great night! Davinie

Crate Love - The Heart

Thanks for all the quilt advice!

I have no idea what to do, but I know I'll need to take that binding off, if I don't duvet it like my sister suggested. That little closeup is only the beginning. The binding is barely hanging on, all the way around.

Baby blankets are very important to me. My mama made me one and I really needed to do so for my girls. I just wish I had been thinking more about durability when I made Morgan's. I did a much better job with Payton's blanket, which she calls... Rabbit blankie. Because it has..... rabbits on it. My girls are so darn creative! lol.

On Mother's Day, in addition to making sure I got a photo of me with the girls, I wanted to make sure I got a photo of them with their Grandma, Steve's mom. I don't have a lot of photos of them together for some reason.

I adore these photos of her. I wish my girls were more present in the photo, which is one reason I used two photos in the following layout:

That second photo of Morgan cracks me up.

I mixed my great big scallop punch with my scallop sentiment punch, the staple in my punch drawer.

The Partly Sunny kit going up for sale from Studio Calico in a couple of hours reaaaaallly made me want to use my fabric scraps, so I trimmed a big chunk for the base of my layout (I need MORE of the K&Co fabric swatches, I'll tell you what!). I didn't really measure it. I just chopped out a section and then layered my paper over it.


My sweet friend had this big package of different flower pieces from Stampin' Up and I layered some over a chipboard flower piece (NEW in the shop this month) for my main embellishment piece. I also used brads and different prints from Crate Paper's Pink Plum line.

Speaking of Crate Paper, they are sponsoring the Reveal night giveaway on the Studio blog. So dash on over there if you want a chance at one of their three newest collections.

I'll be back in a couple of hours with my June projects with the Partly Sunny kit. In the meantime, check out the shop for some new fun items, in particular, the RECEIPT HOLDER from 7 Gypsies. I am kicking myself that I didn't pick one or two up last month. I could use one right now in my scrapbook room, and the other in the kitchen, with an ATC or two, and maybe a car key or the cable bill in another. I'd love to have an actual vintage piece, but we are faux old out West. Everything broke on those wagon trains except the Pyrex. :)

I'll see you later, during the premier of So You Think You Can Dance. Woot!

Davinie

Quilts

6 years ago I made Morgan a quilt.

6 years ago I didn't know anything a'tall about sewing (not that I know that much more now. I'm not much of a "rule" follower).

I picked out fabric when I was pregnant and didn't know what I was having. I really thought I was having a boy so I didn't spend too much time focusing on the girl fabric. Looking back I don't know why I picked this fabric in particular. I'm not normally a black, pink, and yellow girl myself. It must have been some crazy hormones.

I made this quilt when Morgan was little. I was too tired and overwhelmed with being a first time mom to do it sooner. She was just a couple months old when I gave it to her, but she's loved it ever since.



She's always called it her square blankie, and sleeps with it every night.

The problem I have now, 6 years later, is that she sleeps with it every night.

She has slept with it every night, even the summer of '09, when we had some issues with making it through the night.

So it's been washed. A LOT.

And Mama didn't think about that enough when constructing the darn thing, so Morgan's precious square blankie is in a heap of trouble.

What should I do? She's not ready to part with it so that I can tuck it away somewhere for safekeeping. It's becoming so thin. I'm starting to see wee bits of it in the dryer.

Should I...... take off the binding and sew on a new one? Purchase a whole new backer, lay this blanket on it, and buy new binding and just smash the whole thing together?

I'm not worried at all about appearance. I just want the blanket to survive another year. And it's not going to at this point. Look at that black fabric. It's grey, practically white now.

So I need some advice.

After you've pondered that, and speaking of quilts, I do have one last sneak for you from Studio Calico's June kit. I've gotta tell you.... I was in quite the homespun mood.

I will have some other projects to share here on my blog after the kit goes up as I finally located some mojo but it is after the deadline for my DT gallery.

Have a great night! And let me know what to do about the square blankie, will ya?

Davinie

Partly Sunny Sneaks

I could press replay on my many complaints about how busy and strange things have been at my house lately, but instead, I'll share some sneaks:

Can you say.... SHOP ITEMS? If you can't get any add-ons this month, I daresay I will do my best to tempt you at the shop this month. There are a couple of items in particular that are MUST haves. At first, I was a bit skeptical, but when I received one of these items (blatantly advertised in pennant form above), I immediately chopped it into bits, experienced nirvana, and am now itching for more. I was quite entertained.

Back to work.......

Davinie

April

Confession: The April sketch was super hard for me.

I guess this is why the challenge is a challenge, and why it's a good idea to use sketches every once in a while to stretch yourself creatively. Right?

The difficulty ran in how to choose photos, but the bonus was that I didn't have a lot of photos or "events" to choose from. In the end 947,368 soccer photos really doesn't add up to much when you are just hoping to highlight the actual event on a layout.

With that, as a reminder, the April sketch:


And this is what I came up with:

(Jenni Bowlin Studios paper, Jillibean Soup paper, Crate paper chipboard elements, Studio Calico date stamp, EK Success Bumpy road punch).

As always, I used my month stamp set from Studio Calico for the title. I am so glad I have this set, to be honest. It creates unity in my project and I see myself using it for years. I mounted it on pop dots to add some dimension to the top.

I've used that Crate paper chipboard dandelion like this before, and I can't stop. I had to punch two holes in it with my Cropadile and tie some brown jute. Had to.

I tied more jute around the empty space on the layout and added another chipboard piece, which was also mounted on pop dots to separate it from the sheer calendar.

I have a punch that matches the shape in Becky's sketch, but I just got my EK Success Bumpy Road punch, and I just had to use it. I just love it! It's so quirky. It's a great addition to my punch collection.

And that's it! I'm later than I hoped but earlier in the deadline. I consider this the grey area, which still makes me a winner! lol. Ack. You know how life goes. And my girls are throwing some amazing curve balls lately. In fact, we had to have an "emergency" pow wow date night the other night, because I was at a serious breaking point. And after two Appletini's and some conversation with my sweet hubby, we got some ideas and some issues ironed out, and we headed home to brave another day with our spawn. lol. Love those kids.

Anyway, today is the 19th, which means you have one more day to post your layout to the challenge post if you want entered in for a prize! The deadline is midnight on the 20th MY time. That might mean a whole extra day if you are a European or Aussie friend.

Have a great one!

Davinie

Documentary - Studio Calico's mid-release

Did you see this?

Contact your local scrapbook store! Documentary will be available to online and local retailers for two months before it will be available in the Studio Calico shop.

April is already ahead of the game, and has already put together the coordinating Bazzill color matches. Check those out here.

Soccer Girl and Crate Love

My life for the past month and a half has been consumed by small children and soccer. Morgan had practice twice a week, Payton one day per week, and they both had a game every Saturday. Sometimes the games overlapped and they were both playing at the same time.

There was also the gale forced winds and the frigid temparatures to deal with.

Fun times and Spring soccer.

But they both loved it.

Now that the season is over and I have a zillion of photos to weed through, I wanted to start cranking out those layouts to document some favorite moments.

Morgan has a very short attention span, so watching her play this season has been entertaining and slightly frustrating, lol.

On the last day the coaches handed out their trophies, and when they got to Morgan they said.... "Morgan.... has had perfect attendance. She never missed a game or a single practice. Oh, and she had great hustle on the field." Oh my stars. Perfect attendance. You know your kid may not be gifted in the athletic arena when the coach hands out an award and rather than focusing on what you've done for the team, they focus on whether you were there or not. heeeee.

She still loved playing. Sometimes. We'll sign her up again.

My favorite thing about her this season is when she dashed off the field after getting her trophy. She was SO excited. She went on and on about how the trophy looked just like her, except she was gold. Cracked me up, and of course, it had to be documented.

Luckily, even though I had a crazy big zoom lens on my camera at the time, I almost managed to capture photos in focus of my girl in that moment as she raced away from the group to show us her award.

Last month one of my purchases from the shop was the Label punch. The downside to punches like this is that you have no choice. You have to punch all of the shapes. At first I just wanted the large label, and planned to make more tags with it, but after punching a few things out, decided to instead have fun with the labels in different sizes on my page.

I mixed them with the chipboard shapes in the Brook Collection from Crate paper. They are an artsy interpretation of soccer balls. Decorative and circular, so it works, right?

Lastly, for this layout, I wanted to use my handwriting. I need to do that more. There was a discussion recently about what to do about journaling lines, and the solution is the notepaper stamp and antique linen distress ink. On kraft cardstock, the lines are barely noticeable with this color, but it's just enough to be able to journal in a straight line. This saves time over trying to measure, write lines with pencil, erase, etc. I don't want to spend that much time trying to get my thoughts down on paper. This stamp and ink technique is a quick and easy way to do it. And if you want your journaling lines more apparent, you just need to choose a different ink pad.

Special note: That Notepaper stamp is on the list to be pink slipped. Hand writing your journaling never goes out of style. This is a stamp that will definitely earn it's keep in your stamp drawer, so get it while you can!

That's it for today! Back later with Project 12 and Studio Calico sneaks.

Davinie