For our Wednesday giveaway, we at Ella invited April Foster from Studio Calico to share how she gets her inspiration. Get ready to get inspired by this talented guest blogger!

June 28, 2007 was an important day for us at Studio Calico.  It was the day we, at Studio Calico, launched our first kit, BILLBOARD.  That kit began as many thereafter, with a piece of inspiration from outside the scrapbooking industry.  I believe it was an ad from Blueprint Magazine.  That torn out page is long gone now, but our aspirations at Studio Calico are not.  You see, one of our goals at Studio Calico is and will likely forever be, to deliver inspiration.  After all, our tag line is "Inspiration, Delivered."  How can we possibly deliver inspiration to our customers if we aren't first inspired ourselves?

Another goal has been to provide unique kits using the latest and greatest products, but afford customers the means to use the products in a variety of ways so it doesn't look like the end result of their work all came from the same set of products.  One way we do this is to combine products from lots of different manufacturers.  At times, we've ordered from up to 27 manufacturers, all for one monthly kit!  Also, we like to provide innovative products that challenge scrapbookers to use products outside their comfort zone, or from a style they may not have first been attracted to.  Somehow, seeing a product as part of a whole makes it easier to adopt as your own style than sitting on a shelf all by its lonesome.

Another important date at Studio Calico is January 28, 2008.  That date marked the launch of our first Studio Calico branded stamp (produced in coordination with Fontwerks).  Later that year, we began producing stamps under our own label, and had another co-branding stint with Tinkering Ink when we produced FabRips with our October kit.  But, it wasn't until the January 2009 kit that we really dug our heels into exclusive products.  That kit was inspired by the illustrations in the children's book, "The Incredible Book-Eating Boy" by Oliver Jeffers.



We designed three papers that were featured in the January kit, entitled BIBLIOGRAPHY:



For the layout below, made with the BIBLIOGRAPHY kit, I took inspiration directly from the layout of the book-page featured above:



Since, this kit, over a year has passed, and our members are still talking about this kit.  Even later that year, Lisa Truesdell, used the book as inspiration for a layout she made with Studio Calico's August kit, OVER THE RAINBOW.



I find that some of the most beloved kits are ones that are designed from an inspiration piece.  Another kit that has had similar popularity is February's BAKERS DOZEN kit.  Despite a large increase in quantity, this kit sold out in less than 2 hours.

This kit was inspired by an image I found on the Creature Comforts blog
(side note: this blog is on my RSS feed, so I get EVERYTHING Ez posts.  It's currently my favorite blog outside the scrapbooking industry and was even mentioned on the Today show.  I love those moments when I know about something that's mentioned on TV...just makes me feel so smart!)



I found this image several months before February's kit was designed, saved it, and knew I would use it at some point.  Those doily banners just called out to me.

Which is perhaps the reason they were so literally translated on these papers:



Which were a part of this kit:


Notice how the inspiration piece has strong orange, yellow, and pink tones, but it also has a touch of turquoise, so I definitely wanted to add that.  Another thing I like to do with kits is combine old product with new.  By old, I sometimes mean realllllllllllllllllly old....like a vintage item.  But, I also like to look for products that have been out for awhile that could use a breath of fresh air when combined with new products.  In the BAKER'S DOZEN kit, I included the Simplicity paper by Fancy Pants that was released over a year ago. Scrapbooking years are like dog years, so that paper is ancient!  But, when combined with brand new releases, it's instantly new and exciting again....oh, and very usable!

This layout by Maggie Holmes represents the kit quite well:


Although this post has highlighted kits constructed using an inspiration source, many times our monthly kits are driven by the newest and best products on the market.  I see something (or one of our wonderful design team members sees something) I just HAVE TO HAVE.  Ever had a moment like that?  Then, I'll plan a kit with those items in mind.

Whatever the basis of inspiration, we're committed to staying true to our beliefs and values that are tried and true. 


We'd be happy to hear from you! To enter our little contest, leave a comment in this post with a suggestion for Studio Calico and you will be entered to WIN THE PATCHWORK KIT shown below. (Contest closes at Midnight Thursday, March 11 MST.) If you have any other comments or suggestions, email April at info@studiocalico.com or visit the Studio Calico blog.