CKC Seattle - Masking and Misting with Studio Calico

It's that time again!  Studio Calico and the CKC event have landed back in the Pacific Northwest.  In February I made the trek to Portland to teach at that event and had a lot of fun.  The kit boxes have landed on my doorstep, and I'm now gearing up to trek even further North and make may way to Pottery Barn, Bellevue, and the CKC Seattle Event.

This is your last weekend to register for CKC Seattle!  The event takes place November 11-13.  I will be teaching on Friday evening as well as two classes on Saturday the 13th. 

Please check out this blog post from my February visit for details on picture sizes and some of the product you'll be using in class.  I should tell you that since that February class, several other CKC events have taken place, and I have a lot of fun examples from other designers for your layouts, so be prepared to have fun, learn a new technique, and bring home two finished layouts!

ALSO.  Take note of this.  I was opening my boxes to make sure everything was there, I'm a double checker....  and stumbled upon a couple of boxes:

If you are a subscriber at Studio Calico, you may be familiar with the packaging in this blurry photo.  And the answer is YES.  Those are kits and add-ons.  And I am to GIVE them away during class.  Can you believe it?

After opening these boxes I immediately emailed April.  I thought in her pregnant nesting phase she may have gotten carried away with her tape dispenser and sent me far more than intended.  She confirmed that yes, these were to be given away to our class participants.

There is a ton of product in these boxes.  That means that not only will you get a crop bag full of fun class supplies, chances are you will walk out with additional product to add to your stash, and some of it may include kits and add-ons from SC. 

Sign up!  Class sizes are limited, I only have so many kits, so please come spend the weekend with me in Seattle.

Head to www.ckscrapbookevents.com/seattle to register.  If you register online you will also receive free vendor faire passes, (I think these cost about $8 at the door).  I have code SEAT1003A on the flier I was sent.  I don't know if you need that to get the free vendor faire pass or not, but there you have it, just in case.

I'm going to be honest now and share the weee bit of nervousness I feel.  I just need to get it out.  I live in Central Oregon and there is a great big Cascade Range in between me and Seattle.  Normally it takes me about three hours over the mountain to get to Portland, and then another 3 hours to get to the Seattle area.  HOWEVER....  a few days ago it SNOWED on my fair city which has me all nervous about the weather in a couple of weeks.  Don't worry about me, I drive a gas guzzling SUV with 4 wheel drive, but ack.  If it's 6 hours on a fast day, how much longer is it going to take me to get to Pottery Barn there!  I'm going to get bored!  So, if you have any suggestions for books on tape that'll thrill and entertain during my journey, please share. 

And chime in here if you've already registered! 

Have a great weekend!  Davinie

Studio Calico November - Napa Valley

I'm anxious to share what I created for the DT gallery at Studio Calico this month.  Anxious because after I do so, I can get back to my kit, where I have more projects in the works.  October was such a crazy month and I can't wait to share what else I've been up to, but let's talk 12x12's and 8.5x11's, shall we?

This is the first layout I made this month.  And check it out...  except for the base paper, there's not patterned paper here.  Just photos and some embellies.  That great big journaling spot came from the Marjolaine chip pieces in the shop. 

I really liked how the photos and the brown butterflies popped off the page.  I'm not a bling person, but I had fun with the MM bling strip too (it's part of that ribbon package in the Sonoma add-on).  The base paper , corrugated alphas, and the flowers are from the Mendocino add-on. 

This next one isn't full of amazing technique, but they are photos I wanted to remember and a story I wanted to tell, so I'm happy to have done so.

I had my neice and nephew for the day, and there was a point when I was sitting in my house, listening to them play outside, and thought about how lucky I am to live where we do.  We have a couple of acres outside of town, and the kids were all over the place, exploring.  In fact, we had this tree in our pasture that had these odd pieces of fruit that never ripened.  We didn't know what they were.  There are several non-native trees planted here so we figured it was something that was having a hard time in our climate.  Maybe a plum?  Turns out....  we have a great big walnut tree.  This year it had a zillion walnuts on it for the first time ( last year, I think there were 3) and it became an expedition for the kids to pick them all and sort them out.  So fun.

Anyway, my girls are lucky to have cousins who live so close.  They are thick as thieves.  They like to fight over who is friends with whom, but in the end, they are there for each other and I think it's so cool.  It's also cool that Kael, who's the youngest by a few months, is a tank.  I feel so much better knowing we have a moose of a boy to protect all these blondies when they grow up.

I did have fun with the banner stamp (from the Sonoma add-on) and put it on it's side as a fun detail on this layout.  I was hoping it would even match up with the zig zag punch, but no luck.  That said, they look good together! 

This is my favorite layout of the month.  It has that lagoon cardstock that I covet, as well as the SC patterned paper.  Seriously.  GET MORE.  I adore both sides.  It is great for fall layouts, it is great for summer layouts (for my friends down under).  That bike print on grey is heavenly.  That yellow with the polkadots.  ack!  Love it all.  Ordered more. 

If you click that link, you'll see the opposing sides to this paper.  The yellow polkadot in my layout is the B side to the bike paper, and the stripes are the B side of that reddish paper.  YUM

I just adore this photo of Morgan.  It was taken right after she lost her teeth on a fun fall day in our backyard.  Speaking of which, I'm almost finished with the layout about that backyard adventure AND I'm about finished with my layout about the dental adventure we had, so be patient.  I know you are waiting on pins and needles for the story of her mouth.  ha!

P.S.  That super cool technique with the maple leafs is slated for a blog date in November.  I'll be sure to link you when it's up so you can see how I did that.

Have a great day!  Let me know if you have any questions about anything I did here.

Davinie

TODAY~

I've noticed some confusion about reveal day....   but today is the day!  12pm EST, or 9am my time on the West Coast.  Check it out:

Shop the Napa Valley kit here. 

Mendoncino (I got this one). 

Santa Cruz

Monterey (I had most of this one because of the Crate)

Sonoma (got this one!)

More SC Paper (GET THIS)

I also wanted to shout out to this little punch promotion here: 

I used:
zig zag
postage edge

I didn't use it but I also bought the himalayan snowflake for my December projects and my December Daily album, so that would be good to get with a coupon or two. 

I also waffled BIG TIME on cloud punches, so put me out of my misery and buy them all.  I keep going back to those. 

I used the Marjolane chip pieces on two of my three layouts, so I would definitely recommend those from the shop.  I already had the Crate chipboard so didn't order them, and because of that.... forgot to break them out this month!  ack!  But I've already hunted down lagoon cardstock to create more layouts, so you'll be seeing them on something soon.

Don't forget those number stamps!  They coordinate well with the alphas in the main kit!

And JBS ink.  I have already put 4 in my cart.  I have seen what they look like stamped and they are crisp and full of color so I need to build my stash!

Happy Shopping!

Davinie

crafTuesday - quick and easy Halloween treats

A quick trip to the Supercenter and the holiday treat aisle.....

and Payton was set with Halloween goodness for her classmates.  She has a preschool party on Friday, and while treats aren't expected, it's always fun to have something to pass out.

Thank you to Ali for creating free Halloween treat tags.  I printed 20.  1 for each kid in the class, Payton included of course, and two for the teachers.  I made it easy and printed these on Staples white cardstock. (Payton's favorites were those going pink as my printer ran out of ink, lol). 

I then dug around my craft room for supplies suitable to crafting with a preschooler, and away we went.

pumpkin stamp in the Harvest Moon add-on from Studio Calico. 
I think this was the medium sized star punch (and THANK YOU to Fiskars for making squeezable punches that my 4 year old can wield herself).

I just tied up my treats in a knot with the ribbon, and then looped the vampire teeth through and tied a bow around the tag, so that those stinkin teeth are easily reached by her classmates but the treat stays tied up.

Payton signed the back of each card.

done.

I wasn't going to share this today, but I figure I'm not the only person putting these things together at the last minute, and there might be someone out there more desparate for inexpensive and easy ideas than I was.

So enjoy!

Davinie

P.S.  Go with the vampire teeth.  I wavered and almost picked up spider bouncy balls, plastic rats, bubbles, pencils, but these teeth have been a HUGE hit with my girls so I'm sure it'll make them quite popular come Friday.  :)

Create a faux fabric edge on your scrapbook pages

Head over to the Club CK blog for contest #35 where you can learn how to make the scalloped faux fabric edge I used to create this layout: 

There's sweet Lilly again, with her daddy, my great big little brother.  She came to visit last Spring and he tried to tell me she was fussy.  A sweeter girl I have yet to meet!

Have a great day!  Davinie

what else but sneaks?

The problem with a creative hobby or a creative job is that you have to be in the right frame of mind to get something accomplished.  If you try to create when you aren't in the right frame of mind, there's a chance you'll hate what you made when you have a chance to look at it with fresh eyes later. 

SO...  being extremely busy, and also very tired in the evenings lately, finding that right frame of mind was a struggle for me when it came to my November Studio Calico kit.

In fact....  my sneaks for you today are late because I made all three layouts in my DT gallery on Saturday.  SATURDAY.  The deadline for the DT to turn in our work for the DT gallery slideshow was on Saturday.  And I made all of my layouts in one day.  One day.  One day people!  3 layouts in one day!  It's a record, I tell you. 

I am a huge fan of two of my three layouts, but with the third, I am happy I got the random story told, so in the end, I am happy with everything I created.

Now that I met the deadline, I feel more free, which has enabled me to keep that kit out and keep creating, so I will have more work to show you on reveal day that didn't make the gallery.  I am excited about that! 

You know what else I'm excited about?  The color Lagoon:

It's looking more green in this photo, but I'm telling you, this piece of cardstock MADE this kit for me.  I need to call Bazzill and order 25 more sheets.  To have this color mixed with the traditional fall color palette of browns and oranges was so divine.  Oh my. 

April mentioned wanting to use this color previously but having it unavailable, so in addition to the add-on(s) of your choice, the first thing I'd recommend doing is dash over and see if it has been added to the MORE COLOR add-on for this kit.  Because it's heavenly.  And I'm going to email April right now and order some while placing my order for the December kit (and holy toledo, don't even get me starting on the divine display of December goodness I just witnessed!  I'm ordering it alllll!). 

I have other things to share as well, but I see that we are closing in on reveal night here, for pete's sake, and I'd better share some sneaks before it's too late! 

Before I go, I did want to give a quick Halloween foodie shoutout.  I was dashing through the aisles and stumbled upon the Pillsbury Halloween Funfetti Cookie mix, and had to buy it. 

Cookie mix in a box is the easiest way to bake with the Divine Miss P when I'm trying to do a million other things at once and don't feel like mopping the kitchen floor after a flour disaster, and this was a tasty treat.  Morgan's going to be really excited about her festive snack when she gets home from school!

The best part is that it looks festive with the funfetti sprinkles so it didn't need dressing up with frosting (although I bought two boxes and will be making frosting for the second batch later in the week). 

Davinie

My September

It almost didn't happen.
It's been a busy month but I'm the host, this is my challenge, my baby, so I made the time and worked out my layout.
THEN I went to upload it to share, at the last minute, and see that blogger won't upload photos for 2 hours due to maintenance.
So I had to wait.  Drummed my fingers here for a little while .... 
In the meantime I smiled.  So many people were in the same boat as me this month and I have had several last minute links to the Project 12 post for this month.  I'm happy to see I'm not alone, and I hope you all have been having a great October!

Eventually, I was able to share my layout.  This is what I came up with for our family's September adventures:

You'll notice I strayed from the usual kraft cardstock.  This is for two reasons.  1.  I knew I wanted to stamp those apples, and  needed something plain so they'd stand out.  2.  When you are asked to do the Designer challenge for SCT and are working with specific products, these products are requested for you from the manufacturer.  I needed a piece of Coredinations cardstock as part of my kit choices, but they can't send one piece of paper.  They have to send 25.  So I have a 25 pack of the brown Coredinations cardstock taking up space in my craft room, and I wanted to use some of it up. 

I didn't take a lot of photos and I didn't think a lot had happened in September so I was happy with the sketch.  Lo and behold, when I finished my journaling spot it filled the whole page.  I love it when that happens.  Memories being recorded here!

With the brown, red, and orange going on, I was worried the layout was becoming overwhelmed with fall, so I added some blue which I pulled from the stripes and used this color as the visual triangle to the layout with the flowers and strip of cardstock.  I pulled in a bit of the remaining summertime. 

Supplies:
Studio Calico's Elementary line
Months stamps
apple stamp from the Drafting table add-on  (which is full of Crate and still available!)


And speaking of Studio Calico, 2peas is having a great big sale right now with free shipping for orders of $25 or more.  It goes until the 24th.  If it were me, I'd dash straight over there and load up my cart with all the Mister Huey's and veneer I could handle.  You don't want to argue with free shipping.  I haven't even had a chance to play with the veneer yet, but I have heard such great things!  So take advantage of that, okay? 

Oh, and when you search in online stores, never search for Mr.  It's always Mister.  It's mist.  Of a different hue.  Get it?  Mister.  Huey.  They are so clever over there in Bowling Green Kentucky, aren't they?

That's it for Project 12.  Back SOON with Studio Calico peeks as well as a couple of peeks at some Christmas projects I made for Scrapbook and Cards Today.

Have a great day!  Davinie

P.S.  Have a Twitter account?  If you participate in Project 12 and tweet about it with the hashtag #Project12 you should know I'm on the lookout.  You never know when tweeting may lead to a little prize from me.  :)  This might be a way for those who don't upload their layouts to a gallery to have a chance at a prize too.  It will also give you a chance to meet other P12 participants. 

Sometimes being really annoyed can lead to something fun.  This only happens in crafty situations.  I'm never this lucky when it comes to the kids.  ha!

Halloween, 2peas, and my spooks

I was honored and excited when I received an email from Jamie at 2peas asking if I wanted to participate in an upcoming event: 

Recently 2peas had a Back to School event, but I was actually glad I was asked to create a Halloween layout.  I don't often take the time to make them, and I've been needing to.  It seems once November hits I am extremely busy with the holidays and other things, and holiday-type layouts get put on the backburner.

With my layout, I decided to focus on my puppy Spot, and the Butterfly Fairy Princess, and go with Halloween, 2009:

You might not be able to tell by the photo, but Payton put a great big purple spot on her "Spot" nametag, because she wanted people to know her name.  That sweet girl.  P.S.  Don't you love Old Navy costumes?  It gets cold at night here in Central Oregon, and it's so nice to have a costume they can wear all day and not have to cover up with a big coat.  I am so sad my girls are outgrowing them.

I don't do Halloween layouts so I didn't have any Halloween product in my stash.  Lucky for me, I know where I can find a great mix of products, and dashed to Studio Calico for the Harvest Moon add-on, a recent addition to the Back 40 kit.  (and there's still a few left!!!!  GO!)

I loved how non-themed this kit was, yet still included a couple of emebellishments to help tell my holiday story, namely the JBS chipboard buttons and the MM alphas. 

For my polaroid photos, I stamped on the patterned paper, trimmed it, and then applied my photos on top. 

A tip:
I used the same black Stazon ink that I used to stamp the image on the edges of my photos to help them blend in with the stamps and stand out more.

Something else I learned, and a valuable stamping tidbit to know?  Rubbing alcohol, but more importantly, the Magic Eraser....   takes Stazon ink off stamping blocks!  This may be old news to you, but learning this today has changed my life.  Who knows, maybe I'll stamp more now that I'll be able to see precisely what I'm doing!  :)  Seriously.  I was about to toss out a block and buy a new one.  I wish I could show you a before, but in the after, my block is completely clean.  In the before, it was almost completely covered in various black, fushia, and brown inks.  That magic eraser really is magic!  :)

Anyway, be sure to check out the SpookCRAFTular event page here.  Several projects have already been shared but we are only halfway through the month.  There is still a lot of Halloween inspiration to come, including home decor ideas. 

Before I go...  I wanted to share a Halloween 2010 preview:

(taken with my Blackberry)

You'll notice that someone has finally moved on from the butterfly fairy princess phase which has dominated our Halloweens the past 3-4 years.  Hot pink Batgirl it is. 

I usually order them something from somewhere, but this year both girls got what they wanted a couple weeks ago at the local Supercenter.  Hooray for cheap.  I do need to find Payton some good cowgirl boots though.  That might get spendy unless a friend has some size 10's we can borrow....   Oh my.  The cheesiness is almost too adorable to handle.  Payton stood posed like that for a good 30 seconds.  It was totally planned by her.  Morgan? She slays me with her cheesy cuteness. 

Have a great day!  Davinie

Cheap Entertainment

What once was a brown paper bag with a November add-on kit from Studio Calico.... 

has turned into a pinata providing fun and entertainment in the backyard for two little girls.

I swear, Morgan has more creativity in her pinkie finger than I do in my whole body.  She constantly amazes me. 

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!  Today is 10.10.10.  Document it!

Davinie

crafTuesday - Paper Plate Sunflowers

I'm a huge fan of crafts for kids that involve paper plates.  I used to do them all the time with Morgan when she was little.  Paper plates can be purchased in bulk, are cheap, and are sturdy enough for a multitude of ideas.

I have done a variation of this particular craft project before, but with the leaves startng to turn and Payton at 4 years old, I thought it would be a fun thing to break out for our craft time today. 

Today we went through a couple different steps and techniques to make a sunflower to hang in her room.

The cast of characters in our supply list:

I couldn't find plain old sunflower seeds when shopping for this project, but I also didn't see the harm in having a snack, so bought some David's.  We ate, spat, and were happy, lol.

You start by having them paint the back side of the paper plate.  Payton decided she wanted a rainbow sunflower. 

While she was painting, I got started on the petals.  I trimmed leaves from both yellow and orange construction paper to give her a choice, but she wanted only yellow.  I'll save the orange for something else. 

My girls are both really good with scissors so while the paint was drying, I gave her a few petals to cut out while I took care of the rest.  She would have lost all interest in the project if I had made her trim all of them.

Once the petals were cut it was time to glue them to the edge of our plate. 

Lastly was to much sunflower seeds and adhere some of them to the middle of the sunflower.  Be sure to keep the ones you intend to eat away from the glue and little fingers, lol.

And voila!  When the glue dries on this project, perhaps next week sometime, we are going to hang this in her room.  She just informed that she wants her sunflower to also have a stem, and she'd like it to be purple.

Alrighty then.  :)

Have a great day!  Davinie 

Ready for Fall

Yesterday afternoon the girls came dashing in from outside with a request that I help gather leaves for a great big leaf pile. We don't have any diciduous trees in our yard, but we do have several on the outside of the fence in the pasture area where the cows hang out. 

I grabbed a bucket and helped them make a little pile, and they had a ball jumping and playing around in it.

Do you notice anything.....  missing from my eldest child?  I have a harrowing and traumatizing story (for me anyway) to share about my baby and her 4 front teeth, but that shall be revealed once the layout is finished, lol. 

I'll just say that we now think she's an even cuter now, and we ask her questions with answers that start with "s" just so we can hear her talk.  lol. 

It was actually okay wearing jeans today.  I am SO ready for the fall weather.  Speaking of fall, I wanted to share a fall related layout I created for the fall issue from Scrapbook and Cards (available now). 

I used some Crate Paper School Days with Studio Calico's Elementary line and my apple turned pumpkin punch from Fiskars, as well as that In Stitches punch that I adore.  That's Payton last year.  Isn't she adorable?  And there I am, curved title, yet again.  I can't help myself. 

Tomorrow is Tuesday and I'm back on the CrafTuesday bandwagon.  Payton is home from 8:30-4:30 while Morgan is gone with nothing on the agenda, so unless I want to be subjected with the hula again, I need to come up with something else.

See you then!  Davinie