Monday 17 September 2012

Studio Calico Ephemera

I often surf my way though products in the shop, and hover over an interesting-looking embellishment product but decide not to add it to my virtual basket as it's hard to be exactly sure what is included in the packet from the little thumbnail released by the manufacturers. This month though, such curiosity got the better of me, and I ordered myself a pack of the Ephemera from Studio Calico's Heyday range. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was really pleased when the packet arrived, and excitedly set to playing with my new goodies, so thought I'd share with you what I created.

I was pleased that, at £3.99, the pack was excellent value for money. It was teaming with lots of really usable die cuts that could work with lots of recent ranges from a variety of manufacturers. I coupled my pack with the gorgeous new Soleil release from Basic Grey, and some new Everyday Eclectic and For The Record Documented from Echo Park, all of which were perfect for recording some summer evening memories; but I can see that the oranges, pinks and turquoises working equally well with any of the pastel/brights releases we have seen over the past few seasons. This makes the pack a perfect, purse-friendly answer for a spot of stash busting - something new to add a twist to your existing papers.

Being the good Samaritan that I am, here's a scanned close up of the Heyday Ephemera packaging to give you a good idea of what is included, a whopping 71 pieces in all:
It was a pleasing surprise to find that you actually get two of each of the resin flower brads, and five of each of the pearlescent butterfly sequins.

Here's my first page:

I used one of the journalling tags as a mat for my title, but to ensure that the MLS newsprint alpha stickers showed clearly I added a trip of grey MME washi tape and some of the pretty new teal striped tap from Bella Blvd:
I completed my title with some mini alphas, and the little "photo" tag from the Ephemera. Another tag from the pack nestled above it to add another layer of texture and interest.

I find it hard to create a page that doesn't have a cluster of embellishments of some sort, and here some different washi tapes from MME, Bella Blvd and Queen and Co and a scalloped circle and strip tag (that I added some journalling to with a Slick Writer pen), make the base for some pins, two of the flower brads and some wood veneer shapes.
Returning to the pack of ephemera, I added a couple of the cloud shapes to the top of my photos, anchoring them with a spot of faux stitching, and layered one of the butterfly sequins on top of a diecut one before slipping it under a corner.

My second page contains some snaps from the fun fair:
 
With my pictures/theme in mind, I was instantly drawn to this off-kilter pink diecut, and decided to utilise it as a mat for my title; using the diagonal pattern as a guide for placing the Newsprint alphas. 
I always find it hard to break against some deep, inexplicable need to create straight-lined designs when I scrap, but was able to convince myself that as it fitted the topsy-turvy funfair ride theme, I could do it.......(maybe just this once though *twitch twitch*) 
To make the whole thing stand out further, I nestled on top of three of the banner tags, strung together with some grey twine:

I found the perfect journalling spot in the pack - the red and yellow circle design seen here reminded me of the flashing bulb lights on the mechanical arms of the ride, as did the star and arrow die cuts that I added next to it..........

For the final touch, I added the girls' initials to two of the balloon diecuts, and popped them in the top left hand corner of the page, and an image of two little children holding hands in the bottom right.

I really dug into the pack and added them quite liberally to my two pages here, but still have a whole load of embellishments left to use again. The pack really is versatile and excellent value for money - and I have a feeling that my days of deliberating are over and I may find myself going with that urge to "click" rather than "hover" again in the future - try it, you may be pleasantly surprised!

My supplies included:

3 comments:

pnkgeeni said...

Thanks for reminding me that I had a pack of the Studio Calico ephemera! I think it adds a nice layer of 'difference' to my layout.

Jenga said...

Lovely stuff Nat. xxx

Tracy said...

Great pages Nat! xxx