Living My Dream

Studio Calico Layout and Project Life Spreads

I have LOTs to post today. I was out of town with my husband last week in Florida (which you know way too much about if you follow me on Instagram!), so I haven't updated in a while. And tomorrow, I leave for a Studio Calico retreat in Tennessee called Camp Calico. I am up and traveling and life is good!

Here are my Project Life spreads using the Studio Calico May Planetarium kits. 

Week 12:

This spread uses ONLY the project life kit and the printables and some digital cut files.

Week 13:

This was the week my son returned from his two year mission to Argentina, so let's say I had quite a few pictures from this week! I ended up doing TWO spreads - one for the week days and one for the weekend which was Easter.

Week 13b:

Easter weekend was spent at my parents house in St. George Utah. It was a wonderful family weekend saying hello to Thane as he returned and goodbye to my sweet niece Emily as she was leaving for a year and a half on a mission to Paris, France. 

Week 14:

Today I also wanted to post some projects I did for Studio Calico's National Scrapbook Day challenges. You can still participate in them HERE. I made a layout for the Card Challenge called Mask It Off. The challenge was to make a layout using a mask without using mist. I used the chevron mask and outlined it inside and outside the shapes with a fine tip black marker. Then I colored it in using Copic markers. I also made a heart on the top left to match.

The second challenge I participated in was the Card Challenge Stamped Patterned Paper. I made these cards for Project Life using some of the stamps in the May Planetarium kits.

And to end this very long post on a Happy Note, here is a sequence of pictures showing me very happy!!! Hope you all have a great week. I'll be posting LOTS of Instagram photos on my trip, so check out the hashtag #campcalico to see them (or follow me "suzyplant").

Suzy

Studio Calico May Sneak Images

Happy Monday! I've been busy creating Project Life spreads using the Studio Calico May kits. The week I make my SC spreads is always my favorite week of the month! I just love creating with these kits! There is so much versatility this month. I was able to make each spread a completely different color theme and look/feel all from the same group of products. And here they are...(and there are LOTs of them!):

I had so many photos from our weekend in St. George that it became it's own spread with it's own title! Love all the pinks and spring type colors in the kits!

Having Thane return made making this spread pretty exciting! So many photos from this sweet moment! I made a pocket to house more of them.

For some weird reason, I love building houses with paper products! I made these with an assortment of little goodies from all the kits.

These cards were all made using the Project Life add-on kit. Very nautical feel to it!

More of the nautical themed products (which I love!). And those wood clouds are to die for!

I used the digital cut files a lot this month. Who can resist clouds and houses?!?!?!?! The quote is from a digital stamp. The digital products still remain my favorite bang for the buck.

I adore this I LOVE YOU stamp - soooooo fun to use! 

I'm becoming quite fond of cork this month! Arrows and letters - awesome!

Another from my Easter weekend spread. See how different the themes can be with a combo of products from these kits???

This map paper is soooo cool - it has the place my son went, so it fit perfectly into his homecoming week!

I printed the word "faith" on a sticker sheet and used it on a photo, but you could also just use the digital stamp of it if you thought about it ahead of time! (which I never do!).

Hope you enjoyed these images. The kits go on sale on April 27th! Happy shopping! suzy

Studio Calico Layout and MY BOY IS HOME!!!

Happy Monday! Today I wanted to post a layout I made a few weeks ago using the Studio Calico wholesale lines. This one uses a bit of Snippets, Here and There, and Sundrifter. I love the dogs that are in the Here and There collection, so it worked especially well on this layout.

I don't think I have posted anything on my blog since my son came home from his mission. That is why I have been MIA lately - we have been a bit busy over here with family time. And the girls were on spring break all last week, so today is the first time I have gotten anything done for a while! Here are a few pictures of Thane's homecoming. We are so thrilled to have him back with us!!!

You can see we are ALL pretty excited! Good times over here! Happy week friends! suzy

Studio Calico April Spreads

Here are my four Project Life spreads using the Studio Calico Spencer Kits. You can click on the images to enlarge them. There are detail shots of each spread in the Studio Calico gallery if you want to see more! I hope you enjoy them and that you are all keeping up on PL this year! Have a very happy Easter weekend!!! My son is home from his mission and we have been busy over here, but I'll be back very soon! xoxo suzy

Studio Calico Sneak Images

The Studio Calico kit reveal is coming up in two days! I can't believe April kits are already being revealed - each month goes by so quickly! I've included some sneak images that you have probably already seen on Instagram (suzyplant), but if not - here you go! I will be posting my four Project Life spreads on Wednesday and they will be in the SC gallery that day as well. 

I can tell you something that has NOT gone by quickly though. Two years. Seemed like it took forever! But on the same day as reveal, I have my son coming home from Argentina after a two year mission. I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED! I cannot even put it into words. But if you follow me on Instagram, you will see how excited I am when I am posting pictures of him every few seconds. Or maybe if you follow me already, you will want to unfollow me! Two years of not seeing my boy have been excruciating. And it's been a tough two years. I lost my brother six months after Thane left. And then I had brain surgery to remove a tumor eight months ago. He is coming back to some major changes. A grumpy mom with headaches, no uncle, and a new puppy in the house. And that has me the most worried - who will eat who first? Annabelle will think he is the one that doesn't belong here and probably run him off! lol

So back to the point of this post, here are some sneaks of my April project life spreads. This first one is made with ONLY the project life kit:

This is the first month that SC has added a Project Life kit add-on and this is made with that:

The next few are made with a mixture of all the kits for the month. 

I hope to see you all at the reveal chat on Wednesday night - whoohoooo (ok, if I can get away). There are two chats that day - at 8:00 am pst and at 8:00 pm pst. Have a great revealing week!!! suzy

LUCKY CHARM mini album

I made a mini album using the Lucky Charm line by Dear Lizzy. I am so in love with this line. I like the colors, all the fun designs, and the overall happy feel of it. I decided to use it to make an album all about me and what makes me happy. I went to my Instragram feed and realized just about everything that makes me happy is RIGHT there. So I printed a bunch of my Instagram photos from the past year all in 2x2 squares and used them throughout the album. There are A LOT of spreads in this album, so this is going to be a very long post! 

I made the album to be 4x6, but I used lots of inserts in other shapes and sizes. But the cover is 4" x 6" and it is held together by four rings. By using four, I was able to keep my smaller inserts stable with two holes. For most of the pages, I just cut some of her 12x12 papers and many papers from her 6x6 pad and backed them together. The next step was adding stickers and other items from the line to create page bases. 

Between each 4x6 page, I put a tag or an insert of some sort in different sizes. I used many of her stickers, die cuts, chipboard pieces or just photos backed together for the inserts. The heart shape is a die cut and the "hello" card is cut from a piece of 12x12 paper. The word "happy" was a die cut as well. The title of the book is "My Story of the Things That Make Me Happy".

There are four different vellum sheets as part of this collection and I used 4x6 pieces of those for pages as well. I love all the little sayings in the line (which go well with my theme), so I dispersed them throughout. 

And of course I had to add some of my doodles that need a home to the inside of the album. I just backed two together to create an insert. The only thing I really added to the Lucky Charm line is some different washi tapes that matched and a bunch of the My Minds Eye enamel dots. I LOVE the die cut cards like the one above "hello sunshine" and I used the letters that came out of the die cuts in the album as well.

For this insert, I just folded a 4x6 journaling card I cut from a 12x12 piece of paper in half and then added some washi to teh edge and decorated the top. For the food page, I used six 2x2 photos to create each side of the page and stitched along the outside edges. You can't have a book of favorite things without including food (in my book - haha!).

I printed all my photos on matte photo paper so I could stamp right on top of them. The roller stamp with different sayings is one of my favorite products so I used it thoughout on top of my photos. 

I'm showing you every single page in this book and there are a lot of them! The colors in this line go so well with all my sunset pictures. The hues matched perfectly! I made this insert to be 3" wide x 7" tall just because I like the book to look all mismatched with things hanging out of it. I also used her tags as inserts backed together. 

I created a pocket for a tag with journaling using die cuts and staples. The balloon is also a die cut. This heart die cut paper is divine - I love it! I backed it with pink paper and added my flowers because it is so dainty and feminine. (the clothes pins are from Pebbles). For tabs on some of the pages, I used two circle stickers back to back hanging over the edges.

Another one of my doodles backed by four 2x2 photos for this insert. I loved the flower vellum, so I kept my decorations simple by just adding two photos to each side back to back. 

I created this insert with a sticker and backed it with paper to house more photos. the page is made up of six 2x2 photos again. Love this page with pictures of all our dates! Having an iphone has really made me think about taking more pictures of every day moments.

Another amazing 4x6 die cut page - High Five. I love these things!!! The "smile" is washi tape by KI Memories.

One of my favorite things in the Lucky Charm line are all the balloons - love them! This insert is made with stickers.

The jars are adorable too - these two are die cuts back to back. So my secret obsession is out - I'm in love with diet coke. I guess it could be worse... The fact that I had four Instagram pictures of me WITH diet coke was a bit concerning...

I made this page with another of the 4x6 die cut pages with this adorable saying - love it!

For this page, I used a 4x6 die cut that just has lines on it and I tucked some of my little 2x2 pictures into it - they are not attached, just tucked under the lines. 

This page had two inserts. The "noted" and "sunshine" are chipboard stickers backed together with two photos sticking out of the top. I tied some twine along the edge and stapled them together. The second one is a doodled card I made to hold some more photographs.

Another insert using die cuts and the navy page is one of the 4x6 die cut pages. I backed it with red paper and cut the "love you more" from a tab off a sheet of 12x12 paper.

This insert is made from two more tags that are backed together and I used a border punch along the outside edge. And this is the last spread - woohoooooooooo! (we made it through together!).

And here it is open and the back cover and I am done with this very long post! I hope you liked it!!!! You can buy the Lucky Charm collection on 2Peas or the American Crafts website. Visit Liz's blog to see more creations using this WONDERFUL happy line!!! Suzy

PS - Some of you have asked how to follow my blog. I added a follow button on the top left, but I'm not sure it works. Feel free to try it out!!! xo

Studio Calico REVEAL of Neverland March Kits

The Studio Calico March kits go on sale today at 9:00 am pst for subscribers and tonight at 8:00 pm pst for non-subscribers. The Neverland kits are my favorite of any they have EVER released because they have SO much color! And every one knows how much I love color! I had such a FUN time designing my four Project Life spreads with these kits. And I finally get to post them! The gallery is NOW live at Studio Calico instead of going live tonight at reveal!!!

My first spread uses primarily add-on 2 called Lost Boys. The amazing "love you to the moon and back" stamps are in this one. I made my own PL card using the stamps and colored them in with Copics. 

This spread uses primarily add-on 4 called Hook - lots of oranges and turquoise in this one. I LOVE the "instalove" stamp in this add on and used it twice on this spread.

This spread is made using ONLY the PROJECT LIFE kit this month. It has a lot of product in it! I could have made multiple spreads with just this gorgeous kit!

My last spread is a mix of all the kits, but uses primarily add-on 3 called Tink. I love the Amy Tan stamp in this one!

I had so many pictures for my Valentine week spread that I used a coin page protector to house another 40 Instagram 2x2 photos. I also used a 5x7 page protector by Becky Higgins to hold my Valentine's day cards. These two inserts are in my spread as well.

Here is a link to the Neverland kits at Studio Calico. I hope you enjoy them this month - they are amazing! If you go into the gallery, you can see way more images of each of my spreads as well as all the amazing work by the entire design team! Have a great day!

suzy

 

Studio Calico March Neverland Kit Sneaks

As you know from reading my last post, I turned 50. Thank you so much for all your nice comments. I really appreciated some of you that are my age telling me how it felt for you as well. Love your words of wisdom!!!

My birthday passed very uneventfully - just the way I asked for it to be. But the highlight was definitely the box of Studio Calico goodies that I received the day after my birthday. This was by far the best box of scrapbook supplies i have ever received. And it came at a perfect time to cheer me up!

My box included all of the SC wholesale products from their three new releases: Here & There, Snippets, and Sundrifter. I immediately created a layout using them. I tried making an 8.5x11" layout to see if I liked working on this smaller canvas and I did - I might have to switch over! This is the first layout I have made in forever (since surgery) and I had a lot of fun creating it, although it took me a full day to do so!

Next, I started creating with my SC Neverland Kits (go to this link to see the sneaks). The colors are divine. Each add-on kit was packed full of goodies. I love the stamps this month - all of them are so usable. I loved how the kits included mini Mr. Hueys and masks. They really did a great job this month. But what do you expect from Neverland! Here are some of my Project Life sneaks using these kits. There will be more to come over the next few days as I finish creating.

This first one uses ONLY the Project Life kit. The Dear Lizzy washi tape set makes this kit just amazing! The "one perfect day" is a stamp included with the kit. And there are cute wood cards and perfect sized letter stickers. You could make quite a few PL spreads with just this main PL kit.

This sneak is made with the Add-On Two kit called Lost Boys. Again, great colors! Excuse my messy sewing - my machine was acting up. The teal wave is a stamp. 

This sneak uses only Add-On Four called Hook. It has my favorite stamp set for the month that includes the Picture Perfect stamp and the Instalove stamp. 

This sneak shows two of the other stamps in use. The banners are from the main Scrapbook Kit and the moon stamps are from Add-On Two Lost Boys. That set is so amazing - love how it turned out. I ordered the extra PL journaling cards which are very thick and perfect for stamping.

Two of the kits this month include miniture Mr. Hueys and masks. AWESOME! This shows the Mr. Huey's in action. I used them on the circle and to cover the wood PL card with the smiley face.

I hope you enjoyed all these sneak peeks into Neverland! I am having such a fun time creating with these and I know you will enjoy them too! Have a great week and watch for more sneaks soon! suzy

An update on LIFE IN GENERAL!

Hello friends! Ok, first off, I want to say that I am going to make a concerted effort to blog more and include some personal stuff again. I have realized that my blog has gotten very boring... All I post is the necessary posts and nothing about life in general. Although some may find my life in general boring. If so, skip to the end of this blog post!

Life in general has been tough. Which is probably why I haven't been blogging much. I have been on a social sabbatical in many ways! The bottom line is this - my head is always hurting SO bad that I don't feel like being social. Yep, seven months since surgery and I am still a mess. And I don't like to admit that, so I just don't talk at all. I am committing here that I am going to go see a pain specialist and try to get some help. I can't keep living this way or I'm going to go a bit insane. Or perhaps that has already occurred! 

On Tuesday I turn 50. I'm not one to get depressed about birthdays. I don't need any hoopla. I just like to spend time with my family and eat all kinds of sugary treats. Low key I am. Well, this year, I don't have ANYTHING to be excited about. I am turning freakin' 50. Need I say more. As my daughter's friend put it - I'll be turning half a century. There ain't nothin' about that I like - at all! It scares me. It is officially OLD age! But I don't feel old, doesn't that count for anything? When I was young, I thought 50 was soooooo old and now it just doesn't seem that way to me. Yikes. Scary. Old age. ME! ahhhhhhhhh And to further boohoo the day - I am not eating sugar in 2013. Can the year just go a bit faster?!?!?!

So with that update, everyone feeling really happy right now? Well there is some good news on the horizon. For me anyway. My sweet boy is coming home in 52 days. FIFTY TWO DAYS!!!!! I cannot even believe it has been two years without him already. But then again, I can't believe I'm turning 50 so perhaps dementia has set in. I am so incredibly excited! He has been in Argentina for two years serving a mission for our church and I have only spoken to him on the phone three times. I'm a little worried how he is going to react to having a new puppy in our house as in Argentina, the dogs run wild and are not all adored pets. And he has been bit by one! He might try to eat sweet Annabelle. I really hope he hasn't changed THAT much as I miss him just the way he was.

Ok, that was my life in general update. And now back to your regularly scheduled Project Life/Studio Calico progam! Now do you see why I have been staying quiet?!?!?!

I did a challenge this week on the Studio Calico Blog with Anna-Marie Wolniak who is one of the most talented scrapbookers around. The challenge is to use the SC printables on a layout or project. It goes until tomorrow night - so check it out and create something if you have time! To get to the blog post go HERE and add your layout to the SC gallery and link in the comment section. 

This spread was made with almost ENTIRELY the January Block Party printables. There are a lot more images of this on the SC blog or you can click it to enlarge.

I seriously LOVE the SC printables. They are so inexpensive and you can do so much with them. I change the colors and the sizes and layer them and emboss them and do everything possible to them. Check out what Anna-Marie did to them as well. You can purchase the February Front Row printables here and here and here. Each month they come out with new ones that go with the kits for that month. On the blog post, I show you how you can change the color of the printables making them custom for your needs as I did with these:

Or you can doodle all over them with markers to change them up and add more details as well.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and welcome back to me - I'm going to start blogging more. Thanks for all your comments! suzy

Studio Calico REVEAL of February Kits...

And they do it again ... Introducing Studio Calico's February Front Row Kits: Scrapbook Kit, Card Kit, and Project Life kit. I made four Project Life spreads with the kits this month. I'm going to show you the full images today, but you can see additional pictures of them in the SC gallery and I'm going to do a detailed post about each spread each week of the month. I want to show different techniques I did using the kits in more detail which will be WAY too much for one post.

Here is the Project Life spread I made using ONLY the February Front Row Project Life kit and the Printables Here and Here and Labels:

I didn't think the red and turquoise were the predominant colors in the kit, but I really pulled them out for this spread. There were many possible color combos you could go with. I also used the February Front Row printables on this and changed the colors of some of them so they matched my color scheme.

These next three PL spreads use a combination of all of the February Front Row kits (see links below):

You can purchase the kits, add-on kits and digital files from these links: Studio Calico Front Row Scrapbook Kit, Studio Calico Front Row Card Kit, Studio Calico Front Row Project Life Kit, Matinee Add-On Kit, Junior Mints Add-On Kit, Popcorn Add-On Kit, Big Screen Add-On Kit, Front Row Printable 1 NB, Front Row Printable 2 MP, Front Row Printable Labels, Front Row Love Phrases Digital Cuts

I also used some other shop items to make my pages - here are links to them as well:

• 03 Micron Marker (I use these for all my journaling and my doodles)
• Uniball white gel pen (I use these directly on photos - you can write on glossy or matte)
• Ranger Tiny Attacher (I have fallen in love with this tool - a necessity for PL!)
• 1/4"/1/2" Chomper by WRMK (lets you round all yoru corners ot match those of the PL cards)
• Staz On Ink Pad Jet Black (I use this for all my stamping as you can stamp on any surface and always get perfect images that don't smear)

Come back to see more details of my PL spreads or check them out here in the Studio Calico Design Team gallery! Thanks for visiting! suzy