the moments in between

getting ready to record summer

We're in the honeymoon phase of summer vacation. I generally let the first week be a free for all - which means a lot of general laziness and video games. ;) But after that, we need a bit of structure!! Last year, we made a summer list with a mix of big activities and silly little things we could do around the house. It was a great way to keep us exploring the city and doing new things. 

We haven't put together this year's list, but I've already decided that I'd like to record it. Which meant that it was time to finally pick a side on my "aqua or gold" debate on these cute little 4x4in albums from WRMK. I got gold, and intend to print a pic from each activity and add it to the album with a caption on a label. It should be an easy way to record another fun summer!

So... what's on your summer list? 

Studio Calico Hello Hello | Layouts

Summer and scrapbooking aren't always a great mix. With kids home (and more often, with kids NOT home and having to run them all over the place!), time is short. And when time is short.. it can be hard to take the time to play with paper and glue.

The last few weeks of school were packed with activities, and I was feeling a bit drained when I sat down with the Hello Hello Scrapbook kits. I challenged myself to push outside my comfort zone and try something new on each of my pages. It was just what I needed to get going! I'll be sharing more about how each of these came together in the coming weeks, and challenging you to try a few new things!

NOTE : If you are a SC subscriber, you can shop for add-ons now. (If you're not, that link will work after midnight EST) Remember, if you see "temporarily unavailable" under a kit, keep on watching. The SC shopping cart holds your items for 10 minutes as you shop, so many kits will become available as shoppers make their final decisions and check out.

Almost | Hello Hello Scrapbook kit + Digital Template by Shanna Noel + Color Theory Clean Slate Ink + star punch + Tiny Attacher + SC Grid paper

Use a Digital Template : I had this page nearly completed, and then saw Shanna's templates and fell in love with the rainbow sunburst. Before I knew it, I was tweaking the it to work with my idea, printing it onto SC Grid Paper, and reassembling the page on the new background. I love how the sunburst plays off the rainbow of stars on the other side of the page! All that color fits the energy and excitement of being on the brink of summer vacation. 

good night | Hello Hello Scrapbook kit + Tiny Attacher + Color Theory Clean Slate Ink + Vellum + SC Grid paper

No Embellishments + Deconstruction : I think it's clear that I'm a BIG embellishment addict. So could I create a page without ANY? Turns out that yes, I can. And I can even like it. ;) I was inspired by Katie Licht's Deconstruction / Reconstruction blog post, and I'm excited to use this process again. I loved how the bright colors of Hello Hello are a stark contrast to a quiet black and white of my littlest absolutely crashed out - it fits his tendency to both play and sleep hard!

Me | Hello Hello Scrapbook Kit + Ni Hao, Bonjour and Hola Add-ons + Color Theory Platnium Status Sequins + Color Theory Clean Slate Ink + Tiny Attacher + SC Grid paper

Use a Pin : It's time to put that time spent pinning to use! I picked a recent favorite and used it as a jumping off point for my page. I mixed the Something Blue and Sunny Day acrylic paint from the main kit into a perfect green, and painted over a handcut speech bubble mask. Since the paint technique and the photo both had a BIG presence, I kept the rest of the page fairly simple. Words can't even express how much I love this self portrait painted by my oldest, and I think this layout features it perfectly. 

All Time Favorite |  Hello Hello Scrapbook Kit + Bonjour and Hola Add-ons + Color Theory Platnium Status & 24 Karat Sequins +  Color Theory Clean Slate Ink + Tiny Attacher + SC Grid paper

Use what you love: By the time I got to my last page, I was ready to just let go and have fun. I pulled together all of my favorite pieces that I hadn't used, and built them into a funky grid design. The Heidi Swapp glitter words inspired me to dig up this photo - which then got me excited for more Monday Night Movies this summer! 

I hope these challenge ideas have you even more ready to have the Hello Hello kits in your hands - I'm looking forward to sharing more about each of them this month! 

Studio Calico offers three types of monthly kits - Scrapbook, Card & Project Life® - as well as add-on kits and shop items to complement them. A new kit is revealed on the 27th of each month (at noon EST if you're a subscriber, at midnight EST if you aren't). For more information (or to start your own subscription!), click here. 

Hello Hello - sneaks of the June Studio Calico kits

Studio Calico's Hello Hello kits have me ready to embrace summer. Okay, so I'm still nervous about balancing work and play with the boys home, but after spending some time crafting with citrus color brights and recording some favorite "almost summer" (and one "past summer") memories - I'm ready to say BRING IT ON.

Except for afternoons at the pool. I'm going to need the temp to go up a bit before I'm ready to embrace THAT.

Here's a peek at what I made with the kits. This layout is the Hello Hello Scrapbook kit only. I challenged my embellishment obsessed self to do a layout without ANY. It wasn't easy - but I love how it turned out.

I did this page for the sneak slideshow - and then took it apart and reconstructed it using one of Shanna Noel's templates for the background (PS : it's available now, and you can check it out here). Turns out I just can't say no to a rainbow sunburst. I'll share more on how I tweaked the template to make it work for this page later this week.

I used the Hello Hello Project Life® kit to add three pages to my May PL. It turned into a bit of a highlights reel of the multitude of end of school activities. I've got a pile of programs and awards waiting for me to spend some time with the Attachers die (it's back in stock!) so they can be added in as well. 

I really wanted to use the acrylic paint from the main kit, but neither of the colors were quite right for this page. I mixed them together and came up with a perfect shade of green.This page uses the Scrapbook main & add-ons, as well as the digital printables.

My last page is also a mix of scrapbook kits and digital - my favorite part is the circle stamps by Ashley Goldberg that are in the Bonjour add-on.

Reveal is tomorrow (seriously? already?!) - which means that subscribers can start shopping at midnight EST tonight and have their purchases bundled with their kits. What's on your list? I've got a few things in my cart : 

 

1) More Adhesive - I'm picking up a new Dot Glue runner - mine is so old it's not even pink, and it's not running as smoothly as it used it. And yep, more refills too.

2) WRMK 2x2 photo sleeves - I'm obsessed with how they fit in the Handbook albums, and need more.

3) Wink of Stella Gold Glitter Brush Marker - Totally intrigued by this and can't wait to try it!

4) SC Grid Paper - I should really just start ordering this in bulk. All of my pages this month are built on the grid paper.

I'll see you at the reveal chat at 11am EST tomorrow!

Studio Calico offers three types of monthly kits - Scrapbook, Card & Project Life® - as well as add-on kits and shop items to complement them. A new kit is revealed on the 27th of each month (at noon EST if you're a subscriber, at midnight EST if you aren't). For more information (or to start your own subscription!), click here. 

the last day | saying thank you to our teachers

Today is the last day of school. Which means it's time to say goodbye and thank you to the teachers that have taught, guided, challenged and put up with (HA) my boys for the last year.

We've mixed up end of year gifts over the years depending on how much time we have and what we think the teacher will like - sometimes flowers, sometimes gift cards, sometimes something handmade. But there's one thing we always do - include a card or tag to say thank you, and have the boys write their teacher a short note.

I wanted to do something special for Sam's teacher this year - she is, as he says, the nicest teacher ever. She's taken Sam from a kid who was very reluctant to leave me and walk into class for the first two months of the year to one who's upset that school is over. She's helped to spark of love of learning in my sweet boy and we're so glad that he was in her class this year.

 

We decided to make her one of my favorite projects - a quilted list taker. I bought this pattern from an etsy shop years ago and I can't recommend it enough. It takes about an hour to make, and it's perfect for small pieces of fabric. This pattern is awesome even for if you don't sew much - it's all straight lines.

Sam picked out the colors and patterns for this one. He has good taste. =)

Inside, it has pockets for notebooks and pens. I found the kraft notebook in the $1 post at target - we dressed it up with some washi tape and sequins. Sam added a note to Mrs B and a picture he drew to the first page. 

Alex's school day is ending as I write this..  Ben and Sam have about an hour to go. Bring on summer. =)

What I See | Self Portrait

Just like that, he's 13 and almost done with 7th grade. He's nearly as tall as me. And everyday I flip between "this is going by way too fast" and "man, this is amazing." Moments like this definitely throw it more to the amazing side.

 

Project Life® + Sketches

Each week, Studio Calico releases three sketches on their blog - one for layouts, one for cards, and one for Project Life®. I'm hosting this week's sketch challenge, and I decided to try and work all three sketches into one PL page. 

Supplies : Camelot Scrapbook kit (aqua patterned paper), Camelot Project Life® kit (chipboard asterisks, chevron stamp, badge), Guinevere add-on kit (green patterned paper & heart vellum), Excalibur add-on (navy patterned paper, book page), Pip add-on (orange alpha, puffy heart), Tabasco add-on (banner sticker); ink – Color Theory Clean Slate; sequins - Color Theory; other – Tiny Attacher, Becky Higgins Page Protector Design J

It turned out to be a rather quick way to put a page together! This page protector has 6 pockets - so I added three very simple designs to go with the three pockets based on sketches. The only traditional journal cards that I used here was the calendar card - everything else was built from scraps of patterned paper that were already on my desk. Using those paper scraps is a great way to add more color to a PL spread - and it saves me from having to figure out how to store them. ;)

Head on over to the SC blog to see this week's sketches - and to share your take on them! 

 

Friday Five | my work at home sanity savers

1) TeuxDeux : I LOVE TeuxDeux. I've tried other task tracking apps, but they were all too complicated. TeuxDeux is streamlined and clean, and it moves anything I don't finish to the next day without making it red and flashing overdue or otherwise adding guilt. And as a rather ambitious to do list maker, I appreciate that. 

2) Walking away from the screen : It's easy for me to try and cram as much work time as possible into the hours the boys are at school, but I've learned that I'm more productive if I take a couple of breaks in the day to run errands or go for a walk. 

3) Chats & video calls with coworkers : Even better if they're not entirely about work. It really is awesome to connect to the people you work with on a person level, even if you aren't in the office.

4) Pinterest breaks : SHORT Pinterest breaks (because let's be honest, Pinterest can be a time suck!). I play a little game I like to call Pinterest Roulette. From my phone, I'll find a pin I like. I then scroll down to the related pins that are under it and find something else I like enough to pin. I keep doing this until I hit a screen with nothing that speaks to me or five minutes or up. These short breaks of doing nothing but looking at pretty things without thinking too hard are a great recharger.

5) When all else fails : Sonic Happy Hour is 2-4pm and a nice dose of caffeine is the perfect way to power through an afternoon. ;) 

Whether you work at home or in the office, what tips and tricks do you use to keep yourself moving forward and inspired to tackle your to dos? 

Project Life® - April 2014 (part one) + #NSDatSC

(supplies :  Camelot Scrapbook kit (aqua and coral patterned paper); Excalibur & Guinevere add-ons (yellow & navy patterned paper); Camelot Project Life® kit (journal cards, banner, chipboard asterisk); Bluegrass Farm Project Life® kit (skinny washi); Pip add-on (puffy heart, yellow washi); label - Hello Forever printable; calendar card - Hello Forever; ink - Color Theory Clean Slate; other - Tiny Attacher, aqua washi)

Saturday was National Scrapbook Day - and we had quite a bit of fun over at Studio Calico. And while I wish NSD didn't fall in the craziest month of the year (baseball and ben's bday and end of the year school activities galore!), I did get to make a PL page for one of the challenges. (PS : all of the challenges are open till next weekend, if you'd still like to participate!) 

Studio Calico also put together a special NSD mini kit (it ships for free!) - I can't get over those acrylic stars. There's also a 4x6in stamp set that celebrates everything we love about memory keeping.

Here's to celebrating what we love to do!