Color Theory & Beautiful Mess Color Samples

Hiya all! I hope you are doing well today! :) When A Beautiful Mess first opened up their shop I was very excited, I love their design choices and their colors are always spot on so when I found out they were going to be making inks as well OH MY WORD I couldn't wait to try them out! I could see just from looking online that the colors were going to be bold and fun but you really never know until you get them in your hands to stamp them out! Well let me tell you they did NOT dissapoint, they are BEAUTIFUL in person and just so much fun to use on all of your projects! I also wanted to compare them to the color theory inks I have on hand as well and see how they compare. I decided to do a little color sampling and thought I would share with you just incase you were wondering some of the same things I was.  I gathered up all my inks and grouped them by color.

Above you can see the color theory on the left two columns and the messy ink on the right. 

Of course to really see the colors you have to STAMP them ... right!? Yes I think so too so let's get to it shall we? 

I tried to keep these colors true to what I am seeing in person so I didn't edit this photo in an effort to give you a true idea of the color.  As you can see there are a lot of similar colors including the black, coral colors, yellows, and some of the blues. There are also a lot of colors in the messy ink that color theory doesn't have yet. I really love the hot pink and I think the cement is my favorite color from the messy inks. The plum is a lot of fun too and there is really nothing like it offered in the color theory line. All that being said I have had some of these color theory inks for a while and have yet to stamp them and now I wish I stamped them the moment I got them! I fell in LOVE with glass slipper and I think it may even by my favorite color EVER!!! All in all I think both lines offer some amazing colors, both stamp REALLY nice and both brands stack together to make for easy storage. 

What do you say, what is your favorite color if you had to pick just one?!

go.be.inspired. 

Shanna

Thanksgiving Place Cards

With Thanksgiving right around the corner I thought it would be fun to put together some place cards for the big day. We will actually be heading out of town to Newport Beach and will be staying at a time share. To make it feel like we are at home I wanted to bring some "homey" touches to the table. 

When I got the So Fancy stamp set from Studio Calico I was very excited but when I started to use it I felt so FANCY and LOVED the stamp even more! The stamp just gives you this custom calligraphy look that I have found difficult to achieve with other stamps! The trick with this stamp set is to just take it one letter at a time. Also because they are SO FANCY some the the swirls get in the way of other letters if you are trying to space them together tightly so to help with that I used a post-it note to mask any part of the swirl I didn't want to stamp, I ran into this mostly with the letter "n" and you can see in the Gene card above where I masked it off, works like a charm! 

Supplies: So Fancy Stamp Set | Creme Brûlée Ink | Staz On Ink | Acrylic Block | Wood Veneer Cards

I ended up making two sets, one using the creme brûlée ink and another using the black staz-on ink, for the place cards ended up going with the black but saved the creme ones for tags etc. 

From there I just added bits of vintage inspired fabric and buttons! Don't worry about making each one exactly the same. Allow the space you have on the card to dictate the embellishments, the face that you are using all the same elements is what will pull it all together for you!

Have the most amazing Thanksgiving!!

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Reflect Sunday | Celebrate God's Promise

Happy Sunday! A lot of you asked for more process videos and so here you are!!!! I hope you enjoy!!


  Reflect Sunday | Celebrating God's Promise from shanna noel on Vimeo.

Supplies| Celebrate Stamp | Versafine Ink | Acrylic Block | Journaling Pen | Mister Huey | October Afternoon Alpha | Studio Calico Alpha | Heidi Swap Banner | ESV Journaling Bible |

Verse: Psalm 51:12

This week we are focusing on the phrase: "Celebrate Always, God's Promise of Restoration under a Banner of Grace" I took this from a sermon Pastor Chris taught this morning at my home church, Redwood Covenant Church.  I loved this statement because RIGHT away you see this beautiful banner of grace in your head. I thought it was important to document that in my journaling bible. This week as we walk through our everyday life let's not forget to CELEBRATE what God has promised us, just imagine this BANNER of grace over your head and think of the RESTORATION he has promised us. I pray that you find peace in this statement as I have and have a blessed week.

go.be.inspired.

Shanna



P.S. If you haven't already signed up for our newsletter make sure to do to be the FIRST to know what's next for illustrated faith! THANK YOU for your support! xox 

Walden Reveal and an update on the Thankful Heart Stamps!

It's an exciting time over at Studio Calico! We are getting ready for Gratitude Documented, the Walden kits are live, Christmas items are hitting the store just so much excitement! Where should we start today? Since I have gotten many messages asking that the thankful heart stamps be restocked let's start there!!

They are restocking these, please push "notify me" so you will get an email as SOON as they come in and you will be sure to snag them before they sell out again :) While you are at it here are couple other things I recommend for the class : 

These 3x4 journaling cards are the basis for my album but they would also be perfect for Project Life or traditional scrapbooking as well!

Arrow Letterpress Plate

I don't have a letterpress machine, but I have been using the letterpress plates as a stamp. I love an arrow background stamp and it's perfect for those 3x4 cards you want to add a little something to!

I had a lot of fun using the different elements in Walden in unique ways, this kit lends its self well to a little creative play! 

Walden Scrapbook Kit 

I also had a ton of fun creating the template this month! It was based on one of my favorite wood veneer pieces from Studio Calico and it is just so much fun to fill in all the pockets! 

Okay on to add-ons, I LOVE these kits for my gallery but I think I loved them even more for my gratitude album, they just had so many things that worked perfectly!!! 

Concord Add-on

Now I know you are thinking "but Shanna that is the most expensive kit in the store", yes I know! But friends, it is worth every single penny!! There isn't a single aspect of this kit that isn't crush worthy!!! That ephemera pack? SO JAMMED PACKED! The papers? Perfectly picked! That alpha stitch template alone is something you will use over and over again and turn your projects into something special! The world veneer is magical and those sentiment stickers from Amy Tangerine will help you set the ton of your page! SO much LOVELINESS!!! So yes, it may cost a little more but you are going to get miles out of this kit, I promise! 

So what do you say? Are you over the moon excited for this time of year or what?!

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Reflect Sunday | A Thankful Heart

 It's Sunday! I hope you are having a day filled with beautiful little moments (and maybe an afternoon nap!). This morning I woke up in a hotel room with my youngest daughter Addison as we are in the middle of a girls trip! I LOVE one on one time with my girls, I think it is so important to really take the time with the special people in your life.

One of the things I love the most about this journaling bible process is that it is so easy when you are on the go! Just pack up your bible, your favorite journaling pen, a couple alpha stickers,  some watercolors and your favorite stamps and you are ready to go! You could create for days with a handful of supplies.    And even though there is so much gained by attending a church, sitting on the ground next to the huge window in our hotel room, with my little one snuggled up in her blanket playing with her penguin and me with my bible... there was really no other place I would have rather been this morning.

gratitude documented stamp set

When Studio Calico asked me to design a stamp set for my next class - gratitude documented, I was keeping in mind how I might use this set with my bible, because lets face it, PERFECT MATCH! So for the next 6 weeks we will be focusing on an attitude of gratitude. In today's society it is so easy to think we need more, or our friend has this wonderful life and we are over here not living up to their standards. My friends, God doesn't call us to live up to their standards, but his. He has given us exactly what we need. That isn't to say that we can sit back and allow God to do the work, but we do need to be thankful for what we are given.

In my class we will be diving deeper into the idea of gratitude (so if you want a more in depth look please join us) but I wanted to share some samples of how we might do that here as well.

Supplies | journaling pen | thankful stamps | watercolors | date stamp | bible | thankful cards | 

This week I decided to focus on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which reads, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Chris Jesus for you".  I love that is says "in all circumstances' it doesn't say when you get the "right" job or meet Mr. Right, is says in ALL circumstances. Which lead me to want to create a space where I can really see how my gratitude evolves by leaving room to document that gratitude in the coming years. So imagine my surprise when I opened my bible this morning to see this lovely 1/2 page of space to work with (since it was at the end of 1 Thessalonians). So if you are working in the same ESV journaling bible you will find that space as well, but if you are working in a difference format this is still do-able! Just take the column you normally journal in and create a space that you can document a couple sentiments for 2014-2016 (or longer if you wish). 

So what do you say, will you join me in documented your gratitude in this very important season of your life? Let's celebrate the little things while focusing on the word together. 

go.be.inspired. 

Shanna

Illustrated Faith | A Mother's Prayer Journal

Guys. Seriously. I am floored. I can't believe the response, stories, testimonies I am hearing on a daily basis about how you are using your creativity in a way that is drawing you closer to your relationship to God. Thank you so much for sharing, in exchange I wanted to open the door on this recent discovery of mine, something I started as a branch of my journaling bible.

I bought this traveler's notebook thinking that I would use it as a art journal sort of thing, but I suppose that never inspired me enough to get started because it just sat there. Then as I was exploring the idea of a journaling bible the thought of being creative in my prayer life really sparked something. I wanted to have one place to document the prayers that I pray over my children on a daily basis. My intentions aren't to document every single prayer obviously, but to have a book I could hand off to each one of my children when they are adults. 

My mother in law is a prayer warrior, I know that wherever I go her prayers have already been. In fact she was praying for me before I ever met Jonathan as she would pray for his future wife when he was only a child.  Prayer doesn't come as easily to me, my prayers are often short and sweet are rarely shared with others. Even though I pray with my children, I want them to know that they are on my mind constantly. When I walk by their messy rooms in the morning I pray for their day at school when I pack their lunches I pray for their friends, when I give them that final kiss at night after they are fast asleep I pray for their uniqueness and how I hope they hold on to that. 

Now that we have touched on the why, let's talk a little about the how; 

The reason I decided to use this journal is because I can use ONE notebook for each girl. You see these journals allow you to insert different notebooks within the same cover. My thought was as this project contrinues and books fill up I could set aside each notebook, one for Jaden and one for Addison and give them their very own journal filled with prayers. 

For the photos to include in the journal, I didn't want to put pressure on myself to take a new photo for the journal. I don't know about you but I have this little container filled with all the different photos I have from other projects that are either extras (I will often print more than one) or the wrong size etc. I decided just to use photos from this container for this instead. 

I decided to start the journal with two photos of the girls doing something that makes them happy, that is uniquely them.  I find that is what I pray the post about that they continue to SHINE in the way God made them. I want them to know I SEE THEM, I see their unique characters that make them so special. I then selected the "love this" stamp from Ali Edwards. 

I kept it very simple from there, just adding a bit of washi tape at the top to hold it down. I then used my journaling pen to jot down some lines and journaled my prayers out on top of them. I made sure to use a date stamp at the top so as the girls look back at these they will have some context as to when it was. 

What I love about this idea is that it was very easy to duplicate for Jaden's notebook. I did all the same steps only adding a unique prayer for each child. This workflow would work for any number of children. I have some ideas on a marriage prayer journal as well, but there are some different ideas I wanted to share there, so that will be saved for a different day! 

Supplies: versafine ink | acrylic block | washi tape | stamp | notebook | journaling pen | date stamp 

Thank you so much for joining me today, I hope you have an wonderful day!

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Gratitude Documented 2014

Last year I asked my friend Chantal if she would be interested in helping me pull together a gratitude mini kit and create a blog series around it. She agreed, and came to the table with some amazingly inspired ideas. We both blogged about it and I don't think either one of us imagined the response that we got. You guys reacted in a way that set the idea on fire, you really brought it to life. It was so much fun to see how everyone was documenting their gratitude. As a thank you we have taken it a step further this year and partnered with Studio Calico to bring you a class with MORE content, MORE product, MORE inspiration and even MORE ideas .... GRATITUDE DOCUMENTED!!

This is the first class that I have taught at Studio Calico that is really going to dig deep into the idea of gratitude. It is my hope that you will grab a warm cup of tea, your favorite fall blanket and curl up with a journal to get the ideas flowing before we even start our creative process. Gratitude is so much more than putting together a beautiful mini album, when you are done with this I am positive it will be something you cherish for many years to come.

I feel so blessed and humbled to work with some of the best in the industry as Jamie Waters, Lexi Bridges, Chantal Philippe will be joining me to bring this class to life. I seriously can NOT wait to see what these talented ladies come up with! 

In gratitude documented we we be going in depth prompts to help you explore all of your gratitudes from this year, super simple tag book minibook that you can tailor to your own style, 3 videos, message board and class challenges, I will be there every step of the way to help encourage you, Jamie will be adapting the ideas to a WRMK 4x4in album, and we’ll wrap up by Thanksgiving so you can share your project with your loved ones.

As with all the wonderful classes at Studio Calico, we have teamed up to provide you with supplies that will inspire you as well as work seamlessly with the class. The stamp set is one of my faves with fun sentiments in my signature style along with elements you will find yourself reaching for over and over again. I can not wait to explore these more with you in class! 

Even though class does not start until November, the fun starts now! In classic Studio Calico style they have already loaded the class up with some digital goodies for you (the cut files and cards are available at this very moment and the digital stamps will be in there very soon!) 

oh and one last thing....

I want you to know that I am VERY grateful for each and every one of YOU!! Blogging doesn't come easy to me, I forget to post, or don't know what to post about, but the support I have seen on this blog in the past couple of months is just stunning. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

go.be.GRATEFUL.

Shanna

World Card Making Day | The Pinterest Challenge

Good afternoon! I hope you are having a wonderful day! If you are anything like me... any excuse to stay in jammies, turn on some project life and make some beautiful cards is a good excuse!!! It's world card making day and Studio Calico wants to celebrate with you! We are hosting a new challenge every hour from 10 a.m. to 6p.m. today some come on over and join us in the fun!

I am hosting a Pinterest inspired challenge, I have a pin for you to gather inspiration from and run with! Think color, shape, theme, movement.. whatever grabs you.. RUN with IT!!

source

I had big ambitions of making it close to the inspiration piece but ended up doing something a bit different that worked with the products I had. Studio Calico stamps are perfect for this challenge! Just gather up all your favorite itty bitty stamps and bring them all together!

I can't wait to see what you do with the challenge! Make sure to post in the Studio Calico gallery/forum for your chance at a prize!!! 

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Journaling Bible | Writing in the Margins

It's Friday!!!... And better than that it's Friday of a three day weekend (for some of us)! We have family in town and lots of fun to be had, how about you? I was talking with you the other day about some plans I had for the silkscreen in Whitman. I thought it would be PERFECT for my journaling bible, as it would allow the text to show through while still making a statement on the page! I also love that you can play with color, so I got out my color theory paints and dabbed a little at the top of the silkscreen. From there you simply drag the color across the page (you can use an old gift card, or any straight edge for this).

What I like about this process is that you can CLEARLY see the text below, but the graphic is so catchy! What don't like about this process is now I want a dozen silkscreen from Studio Calico, and this is their first one. So I am going to start a petition for more silkscreen LOL! But for real, I love them so!

This week instead of using sermon notes I took one of my favorite songs from this weeks worship and reflected on it a bit. It has been in my head all week, and I love that it works perfectly in 1 Timothy as it also talks about temptation. The text reads; so teach my song to rise to you when temptation comes my way". Isn't that just beautiful?! I love it. 

Supplies: Unforgettable | Journaling Pen | Whitman | Color Theory | Staz-On | Alcott

To join a community of us journaling in our bibles please join us in our facebook group! 

Over the past couple of weeks a lot of you have reached out and shared how the process of being artistic in your bible has changed you, changed you relationship with God, changed your outlook and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart, those letters mean the world to me! Some of you have also suggested a book called Writing in the Margins by Lisa Nichols Hickman. Naturally I picked up one for myself as well as one for YOU! This book is PERFECTION. It takes every single thing I have been trying SO hard to put into words right there in black and white (with some doodles!!). The quotes in this book will stop you in your tracks as you think this book was a love letter to you personally, because it is. I got it last night and have already highlighted, dog eared and doodles all over it! I can't wait to share it with you! 

There are several ways to enter to win this book: 

1. Enter a comment with a link to where you shared it on instagram

2. Enter a comment with a link to where you shared it on your personal facebook

3. Enter a comment to where you shared it on your personal blog

*please enter a separate comment for each entry (one entry per social media post)

Winner will be posted on Monday September 1st, good luck! 

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Stamp inspiration | Unforgettable

I love it when you see a stamp set and feel total inspiration for the set as a whole. When I saw the Unforgettable set that came into the shop for Maggie Holmes 30 days of me class, I knew I could have a TON of fun with it and use it over and over again! I pulled out my favorite color theory pads (Red Well | Blush Crush | Coral Bay | Orange County ) and a couple pieces of paper I have been wanting to work with (sigh that bird paper!) 

I also used the stamps ( & staz-on ink)  to use as a guide to cut out hearts from the papers. This way I could cut just a little beyond the stamp and the paper would make a perfect frame for the heart.

I really saw this page coming together like a quilt so I just started pieces it together from top left working my way around the page. Making sure to pay attention to balance things like color and use of paper & stamps.  I didn't worry to much about it being "perfect" since the stamps lend themselves to a whimsical look! :)

I used my journaling pen to doodle little frames around any empty spaces I had. I also decided to add a little letter on the back for the girls just documenting a couple thoughts I have had about them as they start school!

I love how this page came together and I can't wait to use this stamp set over and over again on my pages! I hope you have an amazing day!!

go.be.inspired

Shanna