week end | 26

Another productive week of designing + making. I may have illustrated my favorite stamp set yet for the Studio Calico September kit. :) I also added a few more designs to the next paper pack which is nearly there as far as pulling things together. Production starts next week! As soon as I have some sneaks, I'll put up a presale, promise. I had a few emails asking about this because I did mention I would do a presale like last month. Oy. Truth is, my confidence level isn't so high when I come up with my own designs. You should see my reject pile. We're getting there though.

No set plans other than a little work for the weekend. But it's the good kind of work. :)

Happy Friday! Tina

I took the weekend to ponder my own question I presented on Friday and I've come to realize I've confused what it is to be a successful blogger. After all, we define our own success.

“If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal — that is your success.” - Henery David Thoreau

Whether you're starting out or in a "what am I doing" slump like myself, I think it's best to write a list of expectations when it comes to your blog.

Here are a few things off my own list....

I'm not necessarily looking for a million followers but having a boost in readers would be nice, especially if I've spent a day putting a DIY together.

Do I want to make money from my blog? No, not really. Not if entails having said followers and posting everyday. Time spent on blog management is better spent in my studio working on current and future designs. That is where I want to generate more income.

I do want to use my blog as a platform for my business but I don't want to just post shop updates and what I'm up too. I want to reach out to other creatives and this is where I'd like to change things up.

Here's where I've confused things. I thought in order to be a successful maker/creative that I also needed to be a successful blogger, which I think I can still be on my own terms. I want it all sometimes but I am not that person and I need to play up on my strengths rather than work against them.

There were so many great responses to my question. Thank you for taking the time to write. It helps put things in perspective. That is the biggest thing I didn't think about when I wrote that post....connecting with your peers. I want more of that as well. That is ultimately what blogging is about, no?

Tina

week end | 25

 

IG feeds have been inundated with ALT captures. Seems like a great venture for those who really want to push their blogging capitol forward. This was something I thought I wanted. Until it came down to the nitty gritty of actually blogging.

I wonder if that is the main goal these days. Is casual blogging a thing of the past? Is there a future for those who just like to post pretty things and speak their mind once in awhile?

Bloggers and I'm talking fierce bloggers work really hard at what they do. They probably (like many creatives) don't get the credit they deserve.

Shit ain't easy folks.

So what's left for the rest of us? I'm curious to know your thoughts on this whether you're an income producing blogger who pulls together styled shoots and tutorials like nobodies business or if you're like me and just blog whenever the inspiration hits or maybe you're just thinking of starting a blog.

I'd still really like to push myself here but I'm 80% sure that it will never happen.

On another note....I've been playing with my watercolors a lot lately. It's been my getaway from some of the not so great things that are surrounding us. I try so hard to stay positive for everyone because that's what all my Pinterest quotes tell me to do (& no one likes a complainer) but I can't help but be swallowed whole sometimes by the negative shit. This is where family tickle fights and playing in my (still being updated) workspace comes in.

There is no major life or death situation happening here. Just the usual everyday middle-class stress. Money, trying to conceive a second child, trying to figure out where I stand in the creative world, money, preschool, money, etc. Stuff I shouldn't be complaining about.

So I'll stop.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I'm ready to take on a Friday full of errands and a weekend full of love and adventure. Happy Weekend! Tina

finished!

For me to actually complete a mini album is a great feat. The start of one is all sunshine and daisies, then it ends up in my never ending box of unfinished projects.

This one was different. I think having cute little page protectors helped A LOT. Also keeping it simple and to the point was key. Like with all of my scrapbooking, journaling is kept to a minimum since most of my writing is done in one of many Field Notes notebooks.

I started with this  We R Memory Keepers gold 4x4 Instgram album. I purchased a few of these in different colors from the Studio Calico shop. (fyi...the gold is IN STOCK right now) The albums come with 5 sheet protectors but I ended up getting a few extra packs.

I used a lot of items I had in my personal stash like screen prints that were for practice and a vintage flash card with the number 36. The flash card was really cool and had a nice black frame on the backside....perfect for a little photo. The number and photo are "floating" in a 4x4 protector. Simply sew around the square to achieve the look.

I added in bits of wrapping paper and handmade cards. The Stay Wild illustration is from my favorite publication, FLOW.

I ended with another "floating" element and backed it with a great quote that I printed on a transparency.

That's it! Easy peasy which is pretty much how I do things these days. :)

Do you like to document your birthday in a special way? Tina

week end.

Another highly productive week thanks to Mr. Sun. All projects pretty much came to a stand still once the rain rolled in which was nice. Cold, but nice. What is it about rainy days that make you just to curl up and stay in?

Office re-do is still going strong. I'm not great at putting decor together so please don't expect this to be a Pinterest worthy office. I'm just happy that I've gotten rid of SO MUCH STUFF and that I'm doing this with little money. The most expensive thing purchased so far was square foot piece of foam I needed to recover a stool I scored at an estate sale for a $1. I would have left it as is (gold + green velvet) but it wreaked of cigarette smoke.

I can't get that fabric pattern out of my head so I think I'm going to head back to JoAnn's tomorrow and grab a yard for the stool. I originally went with a soft white vinyl but I'm not happy with the way it looks. Luckily it only cost me $10 and I've got a side project I have in mind for it.

Happy Friday folks. Enjoy the weekend to the fullest. Tina

Hello, Hello reveal!

 

I've got a simple tutorial on how to mount your foam stamps from the Hello, Hello scrapbook kit over on the Studio Calico blog!

The lack of control when using foam stamps annoyed me when I was working with them for the Hello, Hello gallery. I came up with a quick (and free) solution which was to mount them on several pieces of cardboard. You can get step by step instructions here.

There were a lot of personal faves in both the scrapbook + Project Life kit. I want several more sets of that transparent alpha!

 This Project Life spread houses all of my favorite cards and embellishments. Wood veneer sequins? One of the coolest things I've seen in awhile.

 You can see the rest of my gallery here.

So what did you end up getting at reveal? Tina

 

weekend well spent

  We're currently re-doing the spare bedroom that use to be my craft room, that turned into an office/storage area after my son was born. I'm reclaiming it again, working to achieve some sort of functionality. I can't promise myself that I will be the most organized ever but I can promise to make the room useable for both my son and I.

Anytime he sees me with my brush markers or watercolors and stamps (he loves the stamps the most) he wants to join in. I don't have a problem with that at all. We just need a better place than the floor which is our current art space situation.

The supplies, the papers...it's become too much. I've purged like I've never purged before. I lost a lot of space when I happily sold my monster of a desk on Craigslist last week. Great storage but way too big for the small space. My new desk has 1 drawer. ONE.

Shelves have been taken off the wall. The "accent wall" I thought was a great idea at the time has been painted over. Bright white pegboard now hang on a wall that has been bare for many years thanks to my dear sweet husband.

I'm still in the purging state of a room re-do, filling up more trash bags by the day.

Apparently  I was obsessed with this KI Memories font. I do remember buying every single color I could get my hands on. Those and American Craft rub ons. They're so old, they won't rub off anymore but I'm going to figure out a way to repurpose the one above because I still love that font.

I'll post more soon! This is going to be a doozy of project since I have several things that need repainting. An old Mother's Cookie display shelf my hubby shlept home knowing I could use it in my then craft room and a vintage children's school desk that was also free. Lot's of spray paint will be put into good use. Time to get all those thrifted treasures out of the garage and put into action!

Tina

Calling all Stamp Lovers!

I'm so excited to announce that I will be co-teaching Studio Calico's next class, Inked 2.0 class with Lisa Spangler! Together, we plan to do some amazing things using the exclusive Life.Love.Paper stamp set that will ship FREE when you enroll. (quantities are limited)

Check out this deal. It's a sweet one. 10% off all class supplies. Have you seen the supply list? If you need to stock up on Color Theory ink pads or Zing embossing powders, now's the time.

In addition to basic stamp supplies, there are several NEW stamp sets and dies available!

This set was inspired by a favorite illustration. I love how it turned out! Both stamps do work together but are sold separately (House Guest + House).

Hope to see you guys in class next month! You've got until June 30th to enroll!

Tina

week end | Friday Freebie

popsicles seem to be an ongoing theme here. Tyler is a popsicle fanatic year round but I crave them more this time of year. I'm on a mission to try every flavor Dreyer's make. Above it peach and it's pretty tasty but I still prefer the coconut the best. (no affiliation, just a fan)

I've got a little freebie for those who are a little more sensitive than others. I am known as the "sensitive one" in my family. Drives me nuts but I guess that's my sensitive tendencies kicking in. I just find it funny that when something bothers me, I'm being overly sensitive but when it's on the opposite end, it's completely normal. Odd how that works.

We are the ones who overthink, who take everything to heart, who hurt easily. The curse.

But I truly believe that those who do feel things more deeply make the world a better place. We are the listeners, the passionates, the ones who encourage. The blessing.

The freebie is sized at 3x4 and saved as a pdf. I created it last night after seeing the quote on my IG feed. It needed to go into my Project Life spread this week which I'm happy to report is going along amazingly. I have FINALLY found what works for me and I've taken some advice from Kristi's e-course in not stressing so much about exact dates and having everything in exact chronologic order. Man, has that lifted the PL/pocket scrapbooking weight off my shoulders. I mean who effing cares if I mix a photo from the beginning of May in with mid-May? And the journaling...it's never been my strong suit, so why stress about it? I journal everyday in my Field Notes notebook. Why do I feel the need to re-write everything I've already jotted down?

All of this has resulted in good vibes memory keeping. Is there anything holding you back in your pocket scrapbooking?

Have a lovely holiday weekend folks! Tina

LLP Freebie Friday download

a few notes.

*Hello, Hello, Studio Calico's June kit is now up for preview. The Project Life kit is a particular fave. *Reflecting on this past mother's day...man, I am so blessed. *Strong coffee got me through this week. *Still pulling the LLP paper pack together. The center is a little preview. *Coconut fruit bars, flip flops, picnic on the deck...spring has been so good to us this year.

happy weekend friends. xot

Yes, there will be an update

I'm going to put up a presale for the next LLP paper packs over the weekend! I know I don't make enough of these packs from the emails I receive. Holding a presale will give me a better idea of what I need to produce AND it will lock in your pack. ETA on shipping will be May 23rd and I'll post sneaks from here until then.

These packs will be a little different from the past ones. There will some digital art and mini photo prints mixed in with some screen prints that are still in the works. Sizes will range from 4x6 - 5x7 and some odds and ends. It'll be a fun one!

In the meantime...

All 18x24 b&w posters are buy one get one half off and will ship FREE for US residents. International will be a flat rate of $5. Sale ends May 11! Enter code LLPYES at checkout.

Tina

Suminagashi yo.

(yikes, someone needs to dust.) I tried marbling paper a long time ago but recently came across a few pins that sparked my interest in the art again. Today I'm actually going to show you Suminagashi which is Japanese marbling. In no way am I claiming to be an expert in this. There are several great tutorials on the subject and some beautiufl works of art. What attracted me to Suminagashi was this. It almost looks like a woodgrain. Seriously, look how gorgeous! It looked easy enough to do with Tyler and it was! I'm always on the hunt for a fun and easy make to do with Tyler. A craft that I can appreciate as well. I purchased this set from our local art supply store, Blaines. I paid $18 for the set. You can purchase them online as well. I'm amazed at how easy this art is. You almost can't mess this up. That's why it's great for Tyler. It can get messy though so set up your workstation accordingly. It's easy to achieve the woodgrain pattern but Tyler's came out more of a traditional marble effect. You basically take 2 skinny paint brushes, dip it into the ink and lightly touch the water. Here's a great  video tutorial that shows the technique. Once you've made several rings of ink, carefully place your paper on top of the floating ink, then lift off. Place your paper down on a flat surface to let dry. I placed a towel on the floor for this stage. Here's where I need to practice more though. The dyes sort of ran a little. I found that if I patted the excess water with a paper towel, it helped a bit. We used plain ol' white art paper on our first try. Wasn't too bad but the paper did buckle quite a bit. I did try using watercolor paper but the results weren't as great. I always like to use things I have on hand before I go out and purchase anything. I found a stash of blank business cards meant for letterpress.....it worked great! I ended up doing a whole set of business cards for the upcoming LLP print release. I recommend placing dry marbled papers under some heavy books overnight to help flatten the paper. Here are some useful links on the Suminagashi: Suminagashi for kids Suminaghashi inspiration How to video This video is cool! Just a note...I'm not affiliated with the brand of inks, just wanted to share a fun technique that any paper crafter would love. It's refreshing to do something completely different and something you really can't control. The best part is that it's not a huge investment. Most of the materials I had on hand and the ink will last awhile.

Tina

NSD weekend

I didn't really plan on partaking in any NSD activity due to my sickly state during the week. I felt it would be irresponsible of me to push other, more important things aside to scrapbook but why not indulge in some fun.

So I scrapbooked, in the corner of our living room floor while going about my day of chores and screen printing. (I'm so behind on printing)

I reached out to a friend for a little inspiration. We decided to base our NSD challenge a fun pin which was perfect since I was going through a box of small pieces of leftover items from past kits & things I've been holding onto...okay, hoarding.

I did some simple digital treatments to the neighboring photos and added a fun marbled and letter-pressed card using the new plate from the Adventure card topper set.

I'm so glad I actually did something. My IG feed was full of photos of makers, enjoying their day cutting up paper and printing photos. I fed off that energy and wanted to join in. Thank you for that.

Hope you had an lovely NSD weekend. :) Tina

girl loves friday

Man, I think I have a blog schedule down and then something comes up and throws a loop in everything and then there's nothing here for weeks. This time is was the stomach flu. I remember thinking, "I broke my record" when it came to a sudden start. Ugh, the stomach flu. I would say it's the worst but it's not. That's dramatic me.

And then you get the "do you think you're pregnant?" and my response is, "um, no. it's the straight up flu mom." annoying that everyone immediately throws the pregnancy card out when you feel the slightest onset of nausea.

So next week things will be back on track. I want to finish up my process series and a few other crafty projects my son and I worked on last week. You may have seen it on my IG feed.

Now, I want to wish you a very happy FRIDAY. Enjoy the weekend. I hope it's filled with lot's of spring projects or not. Lazy weekends are good too. :)

Tina

process part 3

It's Saturday, early afternoon.

Deadline is soon approaching and the daylight is a welcoming surge of creativity. Funny how the weather dictates our moods.

I unpack my box and arrange my photos and cards from the previous night of planning. Today I'm working in the dining room so little hands  & puppy paws aren't undoing my work.

There are a few things I like to do at the end. Sewing for instance. I get all that done in one shot since I have to set up my sewing machine. So I write up a note on a post it and stick it on the page. My memory is AWEFUL so I find jotting down notes helpful.

now that I've got the placement set up, I'm ready to embellish. I kept this spread plain and simple. I like just keeping the high five piece on it's own but it's a little too plain. I ended up doing a little sewing to bring it out a bit.

 

Adding little touches of embroidery is my jam when it comes to PL. That little mat & poker thingy that came in Amy Tan's kit is quite handy for this.

I usually use the Versamark Onyx ink pad but I printed my photos on actual photo paper so Stayz On it is! I added some digital stamps to this photo of my sweet niece as well. After the stamped imaged dried, I added some sewing to check off each box because she is each of those things.

A lot of times things are added as after thoughts. Like this card for instance. I had already done my journaling but when I set it on the spread, it was just too plain and unbalanced.

I pulled out a few Neocolors and just colored it on. It's exactly like using crayons but it's a really soft wax that's water soluble. I wish I would have done this before journaling though because the pen ink ran when I applied some water to the colored area of the card.

I'm pretty much done for the day but this time I leave my mess! It's the weekend and I do plan on trying to finish up my spreads by Sunday. Stay tuned for part 4 later today and the full reveal.

Tina