Studio Calico February 2012 Sneaks

It has been a long time since I posted kit club sneak peeks.  I was on a kit club design team (Serendipity Scrapbooks, My Kits & Pieces, Label Tulip, and then Kenner Road) continuously for more than three years.  And that was a wonderful thing because I love kit clubs.  I know that the big selling point of kit clubs is that everything is coordinated, but that's not the draw for me.  I love kit clubs for 3 major reasons:

1. The community.  Most kit clubs have message boards and a community that chats about their crafty lives.
2. The latest and the greatest.  I like getting a package full of the cool new products that everyone is talking about.
3. I receive things that I wouldn't naturally buy for myself.  This is always a good thing.  It forces me to use my creativity to its fullest.  And I often surprise myself by liking things I didn't think I would!

I'm the February guest designer at Studio Calico and if you're not familiar with kit clubs, every month the design team shares a few sneak peeks of what they've been working on.  The sneak peeks allow the subscribers to get a look at the products they'll be finding in their boxes.  Anticipation is half of the pleasure, after all!

Today I'm going to share a few peeks at what I've been working on:

Working with a kit full of so many great patterned papers and embellishments has meant a bit of a change in my scrapbooking style.  I think you'll be surprised (pleasantly, I hope) by my layouts.  They're cleaner and less painty than usual.  More in the style of scrapbooking that I used to do.  It wasn't a conscious decision.  It just sort of happened and I fought it at first, but then I figured, it is what it is and let it go.

I think it's dangerous to get into a creative rut and so I welcome the change.  I'm always seeking to explore new ideas and experiment with new techniques.  I like what I'm making very much, I'm just sort of surprised by it.  Of course, it's not like I've abandoned paint all together....

Nonetheless, some different kinds of ideas are brewing.  And that's a wonderful thing, don't you think?

Finally, I wanted to mention that Studio Calico will be hosting a live online chat with me on Saturday, January 28 at 6:30pm PST.  You don't have to be subscriber to the kit club, but you do have to register for a FREE user account in order to get to it.  During the chat you can ask me questions, share your thoughts, or just listen in.  It's a neat online chat room, everyone just types and talks.  It's a lot like the Ustream chat room, if you're familiar with that.

Thanks for stopping by!