MAGGIE HOLMES Photography and Scrapbooking Blog

Documentary Blog Hop {Studio Calico}

Studio Calico's latest release - Documentary - should be hitting stores right about now..................  and to celebrate we are doing a blog hop! 

As scrapbookers, we are definitely all about documenting.... our lives, our people, our memories, our stories.... and on and on.... 

I personally love to document the little details or little thoughts that enter my mind and heart when I see a certain photograph. I don't always journal directly about what is happening in the photographs but instead I try to write about the feelings I get when I look at those images.... and often I do combine both together because it is also nice to document events and things that happen in our lives. And still other times I use my scrapbook pages simply as a way to write little notes to my family -- to tell them how much I love them and what I love about them. 

This is partly why I love scrapbooking so much -- it is so great that we have this outlet to document whatever we want about us and our loved ones... there are literally no rules!

Most everything on this layout is from the Documentary line. I love the rich bright colors that can either go completely boyish (like I did) or could also be combined with some pinks to take on a more feminine look. To create this layout I played along with the Sunday Sketch that happens each week on the Studio Calico blog and used this one by Jennifer Johner.  I pretty much used the sketch exactly except that I flip flopped it. I typically find sketches hard to stick to personally but Jennifer and I have similar styles so I knew this would be a fun one for me to try out! I have always loved her scrapping style and then when I found her blog I thought it was pretty cool because we have very similar decorating tastes as well! Funny how you can become linked to people through the internet that are so similar to you in lots of different ways!

Anyway, on to the exciting news.... each of us DT members is giving away the COMPLETE collection!! How fun is that? You can enter on each of our blogs and also on the SC blog which means you have 19 chances to win!! To enter here just leave me a comment on this post telling me something you are excited to do this summer! I am always looking for fun and new things to do with my kiddos so I am hoping to get some inspiration from all of you! 

Then you will continue on with the blog hop by going to Nicole's blog next. Lots of great inspiration coming your way so be sure to check out each blog! 

P.S. I will be back on Wednesday to draw a winner!

oh and one more SUPER EXCITING thing.... 

Studio Calico is having a one day sale today and everything is 20% off!! Now is your chance to stock up on all of those punches, mists, stamps etc. that I have been raving about! :) You can scroll down to some of the past posts to see which ones are my faves! Such a great deal!!

Hope you all had a great weekend!! 

Studio Calico June Kit - Partly Sunny

I already said this but I LOVE the kits this month! (I know I do say that every month but this month they were especially easy to work with for me!)

Unfortunately my favorite Add on - Rec League is already sold out so I hope that you got your hands on that one already! That banner stamp is a huge fave of mine and I bet that's partly why it sold out so quickly!

But... the other kits are all still available (including the main kit) so you can get your hands on them if you hurry! I got them all and used a mix of everything on my layouts. I can never seem to just stick to one kit because everything mixes and matches so well, and you know me... I love to mix it up! :)

I also got the More Patterned Paper because I can't get enough of the yellow paper with the clouds, the blue paper with the scallop borders and both of the exclusive SC papers. (In fact I am hoarding that blue American Crafts paper with the scallop borders because I love it so much... couldn't bring myself to cut into it yet! haha!) I used the back side of the one SC paper a lot and know that I will use it a bunch more in the future too! And I LOVE the pink that is on the backside of the other one! It looks like the SC paper is already sold out for purchasing it by itself but you can get in the More Patterned Paper pack linked above.

Here are my full layouts:

 

 Photos taken with my new Instax camera that I got for Mother's Day after falling in love with Kelly's at Reflections! I am in love with the instant gratification that these cameras provide - the perfect little size photo that is all printed and ready to go onto a scrapbook page!

 

This one has two of my favorite products this month - the K&Co Alpha stickers and the Washi Tapes - both from the Shade Tree Add On. The washi tape was love at first site!! I want more in every single color!

 

This is my first time actually using one of the Core Impressions Coredinations Cardstocks from Cosmo Cricket... even though they have been in the SC kits before. But now that I have used one, I am actually kind of hooked! :) I just used regular old sand paper and sanded lightly over the paper to reveal the letters. You can see that I sanded more heavily in some areas and lightly in others so that it was sort of random and not all perfectly exposed. I love the result!! So smart of Cosmo Cricket!! These cardstocks come in packs with 4 different embossed patterns. The one above is in the pack linked above and then there is a different pack here. I am laughing a bit at myself because I wasn't sure why the other DT gals were so excited about these being in the shop but now I know! haha!

  

 Another instax picture taken with Kelly's camera of me, Kelly and Liz in Suzy's car!

There are some more details about my layouts along with the specific punches and mists I used in the post below this one. If you have any questions about anything please feel free to comment and I will be sure to answer! (eek... some of those punches are already sold out! I feel bad linking to things that are sold out... but hopefully they will be back in stock soon for anyone that missed them!)

Happy weekend everyone!!

Studio Calico June Sneaks and May Layouts

I just realized that I never posted my full layouts from the May kit as promised to those that requested:

 

Bliss: On this one I used a mix of kits along with the following shop items:

3" Scallop Circle Punch (this looks like it is sold out right now but will hopefully be back in stock soon, or you could also use the 2.5" Scallop Circle here)

Pinked Circle with Flower Stamp Set (This one is a pink slipped stamp set but it's still available!)

 

Stylish Girl: This has to be one of my favorite layouts ever! I adore these pics of her coloring in her sunglasses inside the house! She is so stinkin funny! :)

I used two of my favorite punches: the Large Monarch Butterfly  and the Classic Butterfly. I use both of these all the time! They are a staple for me! :)

Also used the Bubblegum Pink Mist. I have almost used this entire bottle already... must order another one soon! Oh and I sprayed the bird die cut with Dark Cornflower Blue mist and rubbed it in really well with my fingers to give more of a solid colored effect. The bird was originally just tan/neutral and I wanted it to have some color so it would pop! Same thing with the envelope (the yellow scallop piece up there). I cut off the flap of the envelope and sprayed it really well with the Lemon mist. It took longer to dry since I sprayed it so heavily but again I was going for more of a solid color change than just a light misting.)

 

   

And finally a layout of our child that is obviously not shy of the camera! :) He seriously loves to ham it up for me! and I love it too! haha!

I also used the Dark Cornflower Blue Mist on this one. Just sprayed it on the background cardstock to give some color.

I used the cloud stamps from the kit and the Journaling Lines Stamp from the shop (another good staple for me that literally works on any page).

This layout was used as the Sunday Sketch on the SC blog a few weeks back! It was fun to see all the different takes on the sketch that was created from my layout!

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And now onto my June sneaks for this next month's kit. I had a super easy time working with the kits this month! Lots of bright colors and lots of fun things that remind me of summer and just being happy!! The reveal is this Thursday night!

 

 

  

 

 

 

Here are the extras I used in case you want to check them out ahead of time:

Stamps: Heart/Tag Set

Punches: Round Binding Edge (I adore this one!) 

Chain of Hearts (You can see it above where I just cut out a strip of the hearts - so fun!) 

Photo Labels (this one really is soooo versatile! I love that now I can just create my own little labels out of any paper for adding names, dates and other little info)

LG Seal of Approval (This is just a cute 1.5 inch scallop circle)

Double Embossed Dotted Lace Border (This is another one of my new ones and I love the large scallop!)

Mists: Bubblegum Pink, Lemon and Hydrangea Blue

I will be back to share the complete layouts and answer any questions about what I did. I can't wait to see what the other girls did with the kits as well! I am soooo in love with the stamp from Add-On 1 -  Rec Leage (Sneaks are here). You really must get it if only for that stamp! I can't wait to see how the other girls used it too!

June Online Photography Workshop... and a Senior Photo Shoot

For some reason my next Beginner/Intermediate Online Photography Class is filling up fast!! It is almost full already which means that if you want to get in, you will need to sign up quickly! Don't wait!

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I've been busy with Senior Photo shoots recently -- It's that time of year. I love photographing seniors!!

Here are a few that I don't think I have shared yet... more to come!

    

I seriously have soooo many favorites from her session! I will have to break it up... I'll be back!      

You could say...

... that I am knee-deep in scrabpooking project right now

.... or that I am up to my eyeballs in it (but in a good way) :) 

The Reflections Event was an absolute blast! I truly love that event and told all of my students that I will keep going back as long as Karen and Susan will have me! My classes were all so laid back and we actually had some serious relaxation and "get-to-know" you time, all while they were putting together the mini album I created! Thanks for being so fabulous everyone!

I also got to have some serious girls' time with my cute and hilarious friends Suzy Plantamura, Elizabeth Kartchner, Kelly Purkey and Kelly Goree! I could hang out with these girls every day!! Just wish we lived closer. The other teachers - Debee Campos, Danielle Flanders and Katie Watson - were all equally as cute and sweet... we just didn't get to hang out as much because of the ways our schedules matched up. My only regret is that I wish I could have been a student so I could take all of their classes and do all of their projects!!

Heading to Preview Day for Creative Escape tomorrow...

I have been working on my project/presentation for so long now... truly pouring my heart and soul into it! So it will be exciting to teach it for the first time. Preview Day is sort of a practice run where we all teach our classes to the other teachers and the volunteers for the event. And you know what is so fun about it?? I do get to take all the classes from the other teachers!! 

As I have been gathering all of my supplies and packing up my scrapbooking tools, etc to go tomorrow I realized that I have never been a student at an event like this. It will be refreshing to sit on the other side of the table and learn from and be inspired by the seriously talented line-up of teachers!! Now if I can just get to bed so I can wake up in the morning and get there on time! :)

And finally I had to pop in and share this Studio Calico news with you... 

 

 

 

 ....Yes, some of my most favorite Studio Calico stamps are being retired!! 

Almost brings a tear to my eye... literally! 

I seriously use the Schooltime ABC Border, this Notepaper stamp, this abc border stamp (that I am in love with), and this pinked circle stamp ALL the time!! 

(Well I was going to share some layouts using these stamps but for some reason they aren't uploading... so you will just have to believe me I guess! :) Or you can check back through prior issues of Creating Keepsakes Magazine to find some samples!)

 I also adore the pinwheel, frame and silhouette ones too! Oh my, I think they are retiring all of my faves! How can this be?? :)

If you don't already have these then you should literally run on over here and get them before they are gone! When they are gone, they are gone!! I think I may just have to buy extras in case mine ever wear out. I love them that much!

P.S. While you are there be sure to check out the sneak peek for next month's kits. I am in LOVE! Lots of things to make pages for my boys with just enough pink and girlie touches to do some layouts for Emily too!! It's a perfect mix I think!

P.P.S. I promise I will be back to share my full Studio Calico layouts from the past couple of months. I know I have been slacking in that area... I've just been so busy getting ready for Reflections and Creative Escape! Have a great weekend everyone!

NSD - Studio Calico Challenge Winner

And the winner from my challenge (chosen at random) is:

Marti said...

Thank you for the challenge, Maggie! I have recently become addicted to mists, so this was right up my ally! I used brown and sunflower Maya Mists on this LO.

http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/23777

ReplyMay 01, 2010 at 03:31 PM

Thanks for joining in on my challenge everyone! It has been so fun looking through all of your fabulous layouts!! Don't you just love mist? :)

P.S. We had lots of fun at Reflections this weekend misting and painting and scrapping and laughing and eating and chatting! I adored all of my students and seriously had the best time! We took LOTs of pictures! It was great getting to know all of my students better..... I expect all of you to start saying hi around here more often! And don't forget everyone -- you promised to email me the pictures you took! I can't wait to see them! I will be back to share some of the ones I took later!

Marti - email me your info so you can get your prize! Congrats!!