Blue Note card kit sneaks...

The December card kit from Studio Calico will be up for sale in just a few short days! Here is a little sneak of what I made with the Blue Note card kit and card kit add-on.

Are you all ready for Thanksgiving? I'm not! So much to do! I decided to paint my staircase railing and it has taken me a whole week, but I like how it's turning out. I'll post pics when I'm done. Be back soon!

SC eBook...

I have some very exciting news! The Studio Calico design team has put an eBook together for you with 100 projects inside. 100 never before seen projects!!

You can download a 5 page sample, if you'd like right HERE.

And guess what? You get a FREE kit with the eBook purchase as well. Check it out...

If you order one right now during pre-sale, the kit and eBook combo are $34.99 with free shipping through 11/17. All kits will ship for free no matter where you are. Woot!

After 11/17, the kits will be $39.99 plus shipping. Want to know what my favorite thing about the kit was? The stamps. And the cork stars. OH, and those acrylic stars and cameras. OH, and the wood veneer sayings. OK, ALL of it!

Here is a little peek of my project. I made a mini album, with a bunch of inside pages to show you as well.

Want more info? Visit the JUBILEE eBOOK AND KIT.

CUPPA card kit by Studio Calico...

Studio Calico's November kits are almost ready, they're being revealed at midnight tonight!

This month I received the CUPPA card kit (here's a little sneak)...

...the card kit add-on, CINNAMON SPICE (another little sneak)...

...and GINGERBREAD, the scrapbook add-on #1. Fore more photos of what's in each kit, visit the links!

I was inspired by all of these kits and ended up mixing and matching on most of my projects!

First is my main kit only card made with CUPPA. On the "Thank You" card, I used the Prima chalk ink that came in the main card kit, stamped thank you, then clear embossed it on vellum. I layered it over some patterned papers from the card kit with some of the star confetti sandwiched in between. Added a strip of the cute washi at the top! (Everything you see is from the kit except the twine and vellum.)

The arrow is stamped and cut out and adhered over the top.

Next, another card where I just played around with the Cuppa stamps and some fun ink colors! I used mostly the main card kit, but added the star pin from the card kit add-on, CINNAMON SPICE.

(Blue-gray ink is from the kit, and the Harvest Gold/Raspberry Fizz/Melon Berry/ New Leaf inks are by Papertrey Ink.)

I made the butterfly with the washi tape in the kit by cutting strips of it and adding it to a piece of cardstock, then I placed a butterfly die from Papertrey Ink (Love Lives Here) over the top and die cut it with my Cuttlebug machine.

On this one, I stamped the wreath to create the background (main card kit). Added the stamped hearts and a "special delivery" sentiment from the main card kit stamp set! Super cute stamps this month!!! You won't be disappointed!

Don't you love these little bow clips from GINGERBREAD? I slid it onto the ribbon and added the gold bow sticker over the top. Another trick on this card...see the edges? That is washi tape.

Here I used the main card kit stamps again in the background, then I added a few things from the card kit add-on (the chipboard) and GINGERBREAD (believe sticker and patterned paper). 

The snowflakes were die cut with Papertrey Ink's Fancy Flakes.

This one is made mostly with Gingerbread, but the wreath stamp and bow are from the main card kit. 

I fell in love with the Heidi Swapp sticker words and had to have them!

This paper was in the main card kit and I had to give it a try. I'm not usually into black, but I thought mixed with the sparkly Thickers, it would make an elegant card!

To get the white splotchy background, I used washi tape and stuck it to the paper, then pulled it off. Created this cool effect!
Last but not least, one of my favorites this month. I made a gate-fold card. It opens in the center, and would work great for a gift card holder! Let me explain how.
To create this card, I cut a strip 11" long and marked the center with a pencil, then folded the two ends in to meet in the middle. I rounded the two center corners. The whole card was embossed with a dot Cuttlebug Embossing Plate. I wrapped it with the wire ribbon and added the bow clip to hold the ribbon in place. This way you can slide the clip off to remove the ribbon and open it up! The clip also doubles as a money or gift card holder! Slide some money on the inside of the card and clip it under the bow.

The wire ribbon is really neat to curl and stays in this shape! I added the button from Cinnamon Spice, and the 25 chipboard and "merry" from the Gingerbread kit. The washi tape serves as a cute decoration for the envelope!


Hope you'll grab a Studio Calico kit today, they are lots of fun!

SC November card kit sneaks...

I have a "Cuppa" of sneaks to share with you. lol This is the CUPPA card kit by Studio Calico for November...coming soon! This one is made with the main card kit, and I added my own twine. Don't you love the font on the thank you stamp? I sure do!

And this one includes the November scrapbook add-on #1. I had to get it because of the Heidi Swapp word stickers - love those! The wreath is stamped with the main card kit stamps. You will adore the stamps this month - FAB!

This one is also with the main card kit and scrapbook add-on #1. See the blue-gray ink? That ink is included in the main card kit! Very awesome.

I'll be back soon with more. :)

...happy belated World Card Making Day!

So last Saturday was World Card Making Day, and I meant to get this post up sooner, but failed miserably - been so busy! Saturday I was invited to a WCMD celebration with some Colorado peeps, and I had such a nice time meeting everyone. They were all so friendly and welcoming! We did a lot of snacking and crafting and chatting! (Not necessarily in that order, but I enjoyed my time with everyone and can't wait to do it again soon!)
In back: Stacey Shafer, Tenia Nelson, Noelle McAdams, Michelle Gross, Wida Yusufi-Miller, Lee Murphy, Ceal Pritchett, Kim Singdahlsen (who I found out also lives in Parker and grew up in the same town I did in South Dakota!), Vivian Masket, Carisa Zglobicki. Front: Annette Allen, me, Alyssa Scritchfield.

I have to say that I'm really happy to have people close by that enjoy the same things I do. Can't wait to get together with them again - it was a talented bunch and so fun to see what they were all working on!

I have a couple of things to share today. These are OMBRE cards made for one of Studio Calico's challenges this weekend. I used the stamps from the last card kit and card kit add-on from Studio Calico, Antiquary and Athens to stamp darker and lighter shades of ink, creating an Ombre effect.

I stamped the outer leafy ring in red ink. Before reinking for each leaf, I stamped one more time to get a lighter shade of the red.  So every time I loaded the red ink, I would stamp twice with the same stamp before reinking and grabbing more red. This helped me achieve an ombre look with one ink color. Then I used orange stamping ink for the inner ring, using the same technique to achieve shades of orange and yellow. Finished it off by stamping a sentiment in the center in kraft ink and black ink, and lastly popping the card front up onto a white cardstock base with foam adhesive. Simple, but I love how the ombre look creates a dramatic effect!

This was a card made for Pink Paislee's sketch challenge for WCMD. 

I used some Secret Crush paper, Cottage Farms Ephemera, a new Sentiment Series sticker, Artisan chipboard by Pink Paislee and Heidi Swapp flowers that I found at Michael's - sprayed them with Heidi's Color Shine in Sweet Cherry and Blush.

I hope you had a fantastic World Card Making Day too! I am currently working on my Papertrey Ink new releases for October, just received my box yesterday, and I have 4 cards made already. Woot! I'm on a roll. Have a good day, everyone. xo

Studio Calico's October card kit, Antiquary...

It's that time again when the Studio Calico card kits (and all the other fun kits) are available - up for preorder at noon today. I used the main card kit, Antiquary, and the card kit add-on, Athens. Really loved the typography in this month's stamps!

On the first card, I loved the blue cardstock that came in the kit, so I stamped the big "happy" in Aqua Mist ink (by PTI), with another sentiment over the top in Ocean Tides. I stamped the flowers from the Athens add-on and colored them in with Copic markers.

The next card was stamped several times with Versamark ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. I had an old gold mist in my stash by Tattered Angels that I just painted over the top with a paint brush. I wanted a warm color to go with the pretty autumn patterned papers in the kit.

The flower was die cut from vellum with Papertrey Ink's Lovely Layers dies. Love those gold buttons!

On this card, I used one of Shanna Noel's cut files, the Antiquary Thankful cut design with my Silhouette Cameo machine to cut it out of paper from the kit. I used ink refills by PTI to paint the background in Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold and Classic Kraft (red, orange, yellow and brown) with a sentiment stamped from the kit on the bottom.

And after I trimmed out the background for the card above, I had a little piece of cardstock left over with the "ends" of the painted brush strokes - loved how it looked, so I used it on another card.

Added some stamped hearts in matching colors and then stitched a bit.

Here I stamped the "thank you friend" in all different inks. Makes a quick, easy card. And it's fun to boot! (The twine is from my stash, not in the kits.)

You can use a circle punch to add some patterned paper to your cards by just punching a circle, trimming it in half and add a little hole to tie on a piece of twine.
Next up are a couple of teacher cards stamped with the apple from the stamp set!

On this one, I simply stamped the background with the apple. These stamps are two-step, so I stamped the outline in one color and the inside of the apple in another.

I used a Papertrey Ink die to trim the polkadot paper into a scallop: Edgers #4.

My favorite paper in the whole kit was this gray floral. I wanted to use it, but not cover it up too much, so this one has a simple design across the top.

The banner was cut out with the Bountiful Banners die. You can't see it well in these pics, but I shaded the banner with a blue Copic marker...from top to bottom so it kind of has an ombre effect on the banner. I think I may have used these gold dots on almost every card!

Last up is a fun one with the fruit stamps in the main card kit. I added the large leaves from the Athens add-on. The wooden buttons in the kit are to die for also!

You can see that I stamped the inside of the fruit separately and cut them out, then stitched them down the center.

So there you have it! 8 cards this month, and I could have kept going if I had more time in the day. Such fun stamps this time. I just got a peek of next month's card kit and you are gonna LOVE it with a capital L! I can't wait. These kits are getting better and better, I tell ya. Studio Calico is really listening to our feedback about what we as card makers want to see. :) Grab a kit today!