A New Ink on Life

Blue Note Revealed

Happy reveal day! This has to be one of my most favourite days of the month:) Although the Creative Team members have had the December kits for a while I still love reveal day, the sense of excitement and anticipation on the Message Boards is contagious and I love taking the time (sometimes just grabbing a few minutes here and there) to browse the inspiring projects. This month the Studio Calico Head Quarters really out did themselves picking such wonderfully coordinating, fun and unique products that really sets them apart from any other kit club. As I mentioned before I was thrilled to see them parter with Mama Elephant for both the Card Kit and Card Kit Add on this moth.

Please note : at the time of this posting, these links will only work for Studio Calico subscribers. The kits will be available to the general public at 12 midnight EST tonight, the evening of November 27th. 

If you are a subscriber then you know shopping has already started for you (12pm Eastern time) and if you aren't a subscriber yet the December Blue Note Kits go on sale Midnight tonight! If you are interested in subscribing and reaping some great rewards and discounts then I recomend you check out how is all works HERE.

Today I will be sharing the cards I made with both the Blue Note Card Kit and the Card Kit Add on Cole.

These first 4 card were created using only the main Blue Note Card Kit.

I love these stamps from the Cole Add on so so much!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more of the cards I made for December's reveal but I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favourite products.

1. ZING embossing powder-Love these ultra fine powers, they emboss like a dream! My favourites to use this month were SILVER (of course), METALIC GREEN (oh my word is this ever gorgeous in person) and the RED OPAQUE.

2. Paints and Mists- I especially like using the Tim Hotz Distress Paints and Mister Huey in Mistletoe and Opaque White.

3. The Silhouette Cameo- Although I did not use it on my projects I do have the Silhouette Cameo Bundle headed my way -Merry early Christmas to me! I can't wait to use this baby when it arrives and you can be sure you will see a lot of projects from me using it in the near future! I am dying to use the gorgeous Digital Files that were released with this months kits.

 

A little peek at Blue Note

The Creative Team at Studio Calico have been busily working away with the upcoming December Blue Note Kits. I know I say this every month but I must say these kits are really wonderful. I am having a great time working with the gorgeous stamp sets in both the Main Card Kit and the Card Kit Add on Cole that were made by Mama Elephant exclusively for Studio Calico.

Here's a little peak at what i have been upto:

These four were created using just the Main Blue Note Card KIt

and these last two are just using the Card Kit Add on Cole.

If you haven't yet, I encourage you come on over and join in on our Community message board. (you don't have to be a subscriber to join in on the fun). There are lots of questions being asked and answered (related to papercrafting and otherwise) ,inspiration to be found and a whole group of friendly people with a love of all things paper:)

Have a great day!

 

You & Me

I had a lot of fun today creating this card with Studio Calico's newest Collection PrintShop!

This brilliantly colored collection offers the appeal of classic printing: hand-drawn graphics and lettering in brilliant shades of bright pink, sunshine yellow and seafoam green. Icons of cameras, hashtags, ampersands and basic geometric shapes compliment trendy patterns, floral prints and handwritten script.

I used several of my favourites from this line on this card:

These vellum die cuts make putting together a card or layout super quick and easy as they make a  perfect accent or focal point. 

I am totally in love with these stitched journal cards. They are great for PL style scraping but also make an amazing addition to a card.

These phrase stickers have a great variety for any occasion.

And who doesn't love sequins nowadays? This pack is full of cute little flat sequins in 3 colours and 2 different sized tiny stars.

Be sure to check out the Member Gallery to view some outstanding projects using the Printshop Collection. (one of my favourite things about the Studio Calico Community is the amazing gallery there and the best part is you can filter through the projects by searching kit or collection names!)

 

I Remember.........

Today I am taking the time to reflect how fortunate I am to live in the Country I do, and how very very thankful I am for all that did and still do serve our "True North Strong and Free". The world we live in is still a very scarey place full of turmoil and without these brave men and women it would be so much worse.

Every year on November 11th I get very emotional because my grandfather "Poppy" served in World War II; thankfully he survived and went on to marry my wonderful Gran and have 5 beautiful children. This amazing man passed away in June 2004 and would have turned 90 this year on Oct. 31st. To say I was close to him would be an under statement and my son (his only great grandson) bears his middle name. I woke up this morning and poured a cup of coffee in to a mug that was his and as I sit here and type I am flooded with many emotions and may just hug my kids extra tight today.

I have nothing crafty to share today but I do have some wonderful pictures and memories of him.

I spent the better part of last night going through old photos and scanning them in to my computer.

Every time I look at it I am filled with pride and admiration.

 

There is seldom a time that you would find him with out a hat on and I use to love taking his hats and putting them on:) I think I am about 5 or 6 in this picture. We spent our summers together feeding the ducks and pigeons at the park, going on long walks and tourmenting my gran. I am so very blessed to have these memories.

I am also very fortunate to have an amazingly talented photographer and cinematographer for a cousin. Sean sent me some pictures that he took of my grandfather and grandmother in 2002 and shared a story about the man that my grandfather was. I am going to share it here as his words were so eloquantly written: 

" I dedicate Remembrance Day to my late grandfather, George Leaton White (1923 - 2004). Known to his family as "Poppy" or "Pop", he served from 1942-1946 in the 59th Royal Artillery, Newfoundland Regiment, under the British Army as Newfoundland had not yet joined Confederation. He never spoke much to his family about the war, preferring not to horrify his grandchildren about his experiences. One evening, when he was in his late 70's, my grandmother encouraged me to ask him about World War II. He opened up and recounted enlisting at age 16, being shipped off to England, living on based near London and taking shelter from the constant air raids, landing in France on D-Day +1 and fighting Hitler's forces into Holland as a gunnery sergeant. He went on to describe the brutal living conditions and how stayed in touch with his wife-to-be by writing letters to my Gran back home in Canada. After a few hours, I asked if he's ever been shot or serious injured. He recalled how he'd been scratched badly but was one of the lucky ones. Many of his crew mates were "blown to bits" beside him. At this point, he got very emotional and snapped back into the present. He wondered why I wanted to hear such awful stories and just like that, the discussion was over. It was the first and last time we ever spoke about the war.

I took these photographs on Remembrance Day 2002. My grandfather's health was ailing at this point and he no longer participated in the ceremonies and march. I asked if he would put on his uniform for a picture but he wasn't interested. My grandmother, working away in the kitchen, appealed to him. A few minutes later, he appeared to our surprise wearing his dress jacket and medals. I took a few photos in his bedroom window and a series of my Gran and Pop outside their home. It was the last time he ever wore his uniform."

 

So that is it from me today, I think I just may print out a few of these pictures and scrap them. I so wish that my children could have known this great man better. My oldest was only 4 when he passed but I am so grateful for all that he did to make this country great. 

And to all those that served and still do serve "Thank You" doesn't nearly seem like enough.

 

Introducing Jubilee

So I have some very exciting news to share! Studio Calico has published it's first ever e-book! And guess what?! I am one of the contributors (insert squeal here:) I haven't seen the full product yet but I am happy to announce the e-book and exclusive kit is on pre-order right now!

Here is a closer look at the amazing kit! And the best part is if you place your pre-order by Nov. 17th you save $5 and even better it will ship FREE to anywhere!

So not only will you receive the gorgeous kit full of exclusive products and the amazing e-book publication with 100 projects to inspire you also get a great set of printable and cut files.

Speaking of which, I got the pleasure to work with both the printables and cuts for my design assignment and this is just a small peek at my card.

Of course there is just so much amazing product to work with in the kit including the awesome stamp set that I had to make a few projects for me:)

Here is a look at a scrapbook page using just products from the Jubilee Kit:

And here is a quick thank you card that would be easy to mass produce:

Just some simple stamping, a few of the cute cork stars and a little printable circle.

Another great thing about Studio Calico's Jubilee e-book is that you can download a 5 page sample PDF and take a peek at what type of projects are included in the publication.

But remember to take advantage of the pre-order price and FREE shipping you must order by Nov. 17th!

 Have a great day!

Grab a Cuppa

The Novemeber Kits from Studio Calico were a lot of fun to work with. I eneded up making 9 cards in total and now thankfully have a small start on my Christmas cards:)

Studio Calico also launched it's new site at the beginning of the month, and let me tell you it is so easy to navigate making it even easier to veiw all of the inspiring projects there. And let me tell you I truly believe they have the best online forums around. It is a great place to ask questions, and share ideas and stories about paper crafting as well as everyday life.

Here is a look at the kits I got to work with for November:

The Main Card Kit Cuppa 

Chai Scrapbook Add on  (Definitely a favourite!)

Cinnamon Spice Card Kit Add On

Gingerbread Scrapbook Add On

Now here is a look at the cards that I made for November's Cuppa Gallery:

I hope you will stop by the Creative Team Gallery to check out what everone else did with this month's kits. The cool thing now is you can search the gallery by Design Team Member and kit!

Have a wonderful day!