Contributor Center Stage - Julie Campbell

This April, we thought we'd keep the Contributor Center Stage train rolling! We hope you noticed Julie Campbell's smiling face on the Reveal email yesterday. Julie, a Creative Team Contributor, is an active part of the Studio Calico community, specializing in making gorgeous cards and fun DIY projects for all occasions. Be sure to check out her projects in the Gallery this month! Here's your chance to learn a little more about Julie - scrapbooking history, craftroom organization, and more! We're so thankful for the talented team that helps to spread the joy of memory-keeping all over the world.

Tell us a little bit about yourself: I am a lover of all things handmade and I consider it a good day when I’ve had a chance to do something creative. Some days my creative fix comes from working in my craft room & other days it comes from working in my kitchen while trying out a new recipe. I live in rural Indiana with my husband & two boys. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’m also a dog lover & our dog, Moses, is definitely a big part of our family as well.

How long have you been a paper crafter? I began making cards a little over 10 years ago. I’ve always enjoyed trying out new techniques and products and cardmaking provides a perfect canvas to experiment with. I would definitely consider myself a “maker” and love dabbling in all types of crafts. I especially love merging my love of paper with other mediums, such as fabric or paint.

What’s your go-to technique? Would you mind sharing some photos of how one such project came together/some text describing the stages? I try to always figure out unique ways to stretch my supplies & use the products I have on hand. One of my favorite recent projects was this plush dog I created to look like our Boston Terrier.

I enlarged a digital stamp from the Odyssey release and printed it out to create my pattern.

I cut out the outline of the dog from felt & then cut out several other pieces to mimic the colors of our own dog.

To add a little more detail, I added some hand stitching to the dog’s face.

Once the front of my dog was complete, I cut a second piece from the pattern in a contrasting fabric & sewed the front & back sections together, leaving a small section open so that I could turn the dog right side out.

I added stuffing and stitched the opening closed & my plush dog was complete!

How do you stay organized? My craft room is very tiny and has angled ceilings, so I have to get creative with storage & pack all of my supplies in a tight space.

I love having rolling storage (like my Raskog carts) so that I can get to my supplies really easily & tuck them back in when I’m finished.

My all-time favorite storage piece is this spice organizer that I use to organize all of my washi tape. I need things to be visible in order to remember to use them, so storage pieces like this are perfect.

What is the crafting tool you can’t live without? My Silhouette Cameo has definitely been a game changer for me. I love the versatility it gives me & it’s great for so many different crafts.

I also couldn’t live without my sewing machine. I’ve had the same machine since high school and use it several times each week.

Where do you go to get ideas? One of my favorite online sources for inspiration is Craftgawker. It’s similar to Pinterest, but is geared exclusively to crafters & each project is linked to a tutorial.