I’m just getting caught up on a few blog posts after my recent computer troubles (luckily fixed much more easily than I anticipated). Last week I played along with Studio Calico’s Sunday Sketch Challenge. I loved the clean and simple look of the sketch and the emphasis on journalling:
| Studio Calico’s Sunday Sketch (March 25, 2012) |
I used my March Studio Calico main kit (Story Hour) and a few things from my stash, and it came together in no time. I used my Cameo to cut the large heart and the arrows, both of which involved customizing shapes I already had, and it was surprisingly easy. I am really impressed with this amazing machine, and not looking back at all to my Cricut days.
I used 2 Instax pics in place of the single small photo, and stamped on both with red Stazon ink. I am trying to use my stamps more, so I keep a small selection out on my desk to use for a few weeks, then I put them away and take out a few more. Of course I can always get my other stamps out, but having a few out on my table reminds me to reach for them when a project needs a little something else. I splattered 3 colours of paint (mixed with glimmer mist), and added a few punched and cut paper embellishments and some glitter tape from the kit.
I had to restrain myself from outlining those Studio Calico letter stickers. I think they would look fab outlined, and will definitely outline or doodle them next time, but for this layout, I really wanted their creamy nakedness to shine.
I have no process video for this one, but here is a video share:
This next layout is something I’ve been wanting to try for awhile now. Plenty of scrapbookers are doing layouts that involve laying the components out, rather than layering them, and I really love the look. When I saw the cute tags in the March Jenni Bowlin kit (yes, 2 kits in March… I know!), I knew they were perfect for this kind of layout. 
I Love how this turned out! It’s kind of like a deconstructed layout. To go with the idea of beauty in the mundane, I wanted to mix pretty elements with plain elements. The Amy Tangerine fabric flowers (from the March Studio Calico kit), the punched butterfly from that pretty polka dotted velum (the Neapolitan Dear Lizzy Collection, from the JBS March kit), and the background paper (from Jenni Bowlin Magpie collection, in the JBS March kit) are all the pretty elements which I added after I had created the “bones” of the layout using the plain elements of the tags, the chevron paper, the letter stickers, and the photo.
I love using the off cuts from my notebook paper border punch- I think they look so cool! I had used that punch on a previous layout (actually, the one below this), so that little yellow piece was sitting on my table, and I thought it was a perfect detail for that tag. Those Slate Thickers (Goodness by Amy Tangerine) are my most favourite Thickers since Daquiri. I so have to stock up on those- I could letter my whole life in them!
This next layout didn’t turn out quite how I had it in my mind. I might go back and remove some of the hexagons. Or I might leave it. You don’t have to love every layout. I will be glad to get this photo into one of my scrapbooks as it always evokes warm memories of waiting for the school bus on dewey spring mornings. 
I cut the hexagon background using my Silhouette Cameo. I ripped some of the edges off the piece and glued it to a piece of Swiss Dot craft paper (Bazzil). The Find Joy Everyday was a Silhouette cut which I used as a title. I used my white gel pen to doodle joy because it looked too plain in brown. If I was more familiar with my Cameo, I would have recut just the “Joy” part in another paper (maybe red) and layered it over the brown. I think that would look much better than my doodling (which blends in too much with the grey background of the card behind it). I will have to figure that out for next time!
I had fun stapling that gorgeous green chevron ribbon down haphazardly, and folding the border punched scallops around the edge of the paper (and photo) rather than just laying it flat. I really like this look, and plan to use it again.
