The New Kits Are Here! Take a Peek at Bluegrass Farm + Free Cut Files

If you're a Studio Calico subscriber, the April {Bluegrass Farm} kits are now available!

It's no secret the the Bluegrass Farm card kit is one of my favorite of all time.  Here are some projects I made using the kits:

I talked about using letterpress inks with my stamps in this post & the card above is an example of that.  I love the gorgeous, bold colors & the blendable shades that you can achieve with this type of ink.  A little ink goes a long way & I had a little leftover green after stamping the stems.  Instead of wasting the ink, I decided to roll it out (with a brayer) onto a scrap piece of cardstock.  It ended up coming in really handy!

I used the new Wonky Diamond craft die with the inked cardstock to make the berry basket above. 

For the card above, I used the same stamps but with the new Color Theory ink pads.   If you can snag the new Fruit Punch craft dies, I think you'll really love them.  They coordinate perfectly with the stamp set in the card kit & make layered cards so easy!

I cut strips of the woodgrain patterned paper from the card kit to make a crate for the fruit to sit in.

I designed some free cut files that you can use with your Silhouette for these next cards.  If you don't have a Silhouette, I included PDF files so that you can print them out & create your own pattern to hand-cut.

You can download the Grand Champion & Baby Clothes files here.

The tiny clothespins in the card above are from the Clarabelle card kit add-on.  They're just the perfect size for hanging these baby goodies on the line!

There are so many great new digital projects in the shop right now!  I used this cut file set by In a Creative Bubble for the card above along with the Wonky Hearts die to create the felt heart center.  (The Wonky Hearts die coordinates with the Clarabelle stamp set.)

  

There's also a really cool stamp set/craft die combo called Buttercup that was designed by JJ Bolton.  I used it on several of my projects.  It comes with cool frames, paint splatters, stars... need I say more?

  Here's a card I made using the set:

 And finally, here is another project I made using a letterpress inked background.  The blue panel started out as plain white cardstock.  I love how rich the color became!  I heat embossed my images & sentiment over the top of it & then added some hand stitching.

If you would like specific links to the products I used on each card above, you can find my Studio Calico gallery here.

I hope you are able to snag some kits this month!  I know you're going to love them!

Berry Basket Project Life Organizers & Free Templates

Spring is in the air & I have a quick little project to share with you today.  I was inspired by these adorable ceramic Farmers Market Baskets from Anthropologie & decided to make a paper version.

I designed some free templates to share with you.  If you have a Silhouette die cutter, you'll find .studio files, but I also included SVG files & a PDF for those that want to just print a pattern & hand-cut your designs.  (The berry box pattern is 12" x 12", so you would need to have it printed on a large format printer or at your local print shop.)  You can download all of the files here.

The basket is really easy to assemble!  If you die cut it, the score marks are already in place.  Just fold & adhere the tabs in place.  (I used hot glue to secure the tabs to make it extra sturdy.) I added foam adhesive to the included contrast strips to give it a little added dimension.

Along with the berry basket, you'll find a template for dividers & tabs.  I originally designed this box to organize my Project Life cards, but there are a lot of other things that you can do with the template.

I used the new Color Theory paper pack to cut out the basket & dividers.  The colors are just perfect!

 One idea is to create 12 dividers, one for each month.  I filled this basket with library cards & am using it to jot down things I want to remember.  You can make a perpetual calendar, having a card for every day of the year, & quickly see what happened on a certain day for several years in a row.  Or... you can jot down a little journaling & slip in photos,  using it in lieu of a memory album.  I think I'd like to use it to keep track of things (my kids' quotes, things we did during the month, etc.) & then use the cards as prompts for when I find time to work on my Project Life album.

The stamps in Studio Calico's April card kit are the perfect companion for this berry basket! (Kits will be available on March 27th for subscribers & 28th for everyone.)

If you're not a Project Life-er, these berry baskets make adorable gift packaging!  Here's another Anthropologie find that I'd love to replicate:

 

I hope you enjoy the free templates!

New Studio Calico Color Theory Ink Video + Free Printable

Studio Calico has a new collection called Color Theory.  It's a great "basics" collection that's exclusive to SC & includes coordinating products such as inks, patterned paper, alpha stickers & embellishments.

For a limited time, you can preorder the Color Theory ink bundle & get it shipped for free!

Here is a close up view of the inks in action.  In the video, I'll show you how well they work with Copic markers & how to create a watercolor palette with the inks.

I created a downloadable resource chart for you to use with your new Color Theory products.  I stamped each color of ink with a paint splatter stamp.  The bottom section of the chart can be filled with a swatch of coordinating patterned paper, embellishments, or sticker samples.

 You can download your own Color Theory Printable here.

I hope these resources are helpful.  I know you're going to really love this new collection!

Star Wars Valentines & Teacher Treats

I've been on a quest to find a Valentine design that both of my boys could use for their classroom exchange.  My oldest is 11 & it's tricky to find something that doesn't embarrass him.

I don't know how many times Pinterest has come to my aid.  Jennifer McGuire discovered it initially & sent me in the right direction.  I found this post from Stitch/Craft & did a little Photoshop magic to spruce it up just a bit. 

Feel free to download a copy here. 

 Four valentines fit on one piece of cardstock, so I was able to make these really quickly.

After a little trial & error, I found that this slot punch (a punch I bought from Stampin' Up! about a decade ago) worked really well.  You might want to print a few extra Valentines for some trial & error of your own.

As you can see, it makes a half-circle punch, making it easy to insert a "light sabor."

I found these glow stick bracelets at our local Dollar Store (15 for $1!)

They needed something to secure them in place, so I used some heart-printed washi tape.  I love washi because it's easy to remove & won't tear the paper... plus it's just cuter than plain tape.  :)

For the teachers, I found this project from Simple J Studio on Pinterest.  (It's a paper-crafted package of Rollos topped with a Hershey Kiss.)

 I was in a time crunch & decided to make some print & cuts with my Silhouette.  (Oh who am I kidding?!?  I just hate to hand cut if I don't have to.)  ;)

I cut strips of silver glitter tape to mimic the metal near the eraser & some Valentine-colored twine from Doodlebug was just the thing to tie on the tags.

You can find this file, as well as a PDF (for those of you without a Silhouette die cutter) at the end of this post.

I packaged the pencils along with some other Valentine sweets in printed paper sacks.  These wood veneer apples are from Studio Calico & I just stapled them onto shipping tags with my Tiny Attacher.

I love being able to make handmade treats like these!  I made 55 Star Wars Valentines for under $4 & 5 packages of teacher's gifts for under $5 (all of my packaging supplies were already in my craft stash.)  Cute & economical!

You can download all of the files HERE.