I subscribe to the monthly kits from Studio Calico - which I absolutely adore - and I just received this month's kit last night. For the first time, I immediately had to go complete a layout. I was so inspired by the paper combination, and already had the perfect photos of my husband and daughter in orange hues sitting on my desk. You can find this month's kit Penny Arcade on their website. If you're an avid scrapbooker I highly recommend it, especially if you're like me and your local scrapbook store has recently gone out of business, as well as your online store (Two Peas in a Bucket)! Both went out of business within two months of each other! Makes me worried about the future of the hobby. Luckily I receive supplies each month, so I'm not in a shortage...at least not yet.
The Studio Calico kits piece together papers and embellishments each month so that you'll have a coordinating kit to complete your pages. It started as a kit incorporating other companies' products, but they're now offering more and more exclusive Studio Calico products which you can't get any other way. I absolutely adore their products, from the patterned papers to the wood veneer letters. Everything on this page is from their kit, other than the orange twine which I had in my giant stash of twine. ;)
These photos are from mother's day...a little strange considering it's supposed to be a day about me...but as most other scrapbooking moms, the camera is usually around my neck so the photos tend to be of my husband and daughter. I don't mind, and I love how these photos turned out - especially the one with Justin on the bench holding her hands.
I originally wanted to machine-stich along the edge of each strip of paper to create a quilted look, but I had pink thread in the machine at the time. For some reason I thought that it would be too much work to switch it out, so I decided to hand-stitch a border with orange twine.....notice I didn't do more than one border! ;) This took much more time, and I probably won't do it again any time soon, but I do like the way it turned out. It adds some texture to the page. To save time, I did some criss-cross designs in the corners of the feather card stock to match.
The frilly crepe paper across the bottom is from Studio Calico, and added a bit of whimsy to the page, as it was looking a little too serious to me. ;)
For the "title" I knew I wanted to mix the letters on the paper with the wood veneer letters to spell their names. I was going to do words for each letter across the top, such as "Family" for the "F", but I decided it would look to crowded. I liked the simplicity after just doing their names. With the letters attached using adhesive, I noticed that the words didn't stand out enough, and there was no cohesion between the paper and the wood veneer. So I pulled out my handy Glossy Accents which I've mentioned in previous posts, and added a glossy layer to each. For the paper, I simply drew an outline around the letter and filled in between.
Now there is a glossy texture to all of the letters, and when the light catches it, it helps the words stand out against the rest of the page.
Hope this provides some inspiration for your next family-themed scrapbook page. Try to do a unique, unexpected title for your next page.
Happy Monday!
