Contributor Center Stage: Jenn Picard

This May, we're thrilled to dedicate the Contributor Center Stage to Creative Team contributor Jenn Picard (JennPicard)! Jenn is an active part of the Studio Calico community, sharing her beautiful layouts and cards. Be sure to check out her projects in the gallery this month! Take a few minutes to learn a little more about Jenn — her crafting history, organization techniques and more! We're so thankful for our talented team that helps to spread the joy of memory-keeping all over the world.

1. How long have you been scrapbooking?

I started traditional scrapbooking in 2007. My youngest at the time was 7 months old and my other two were 4 and 8. I really wanted to get a handle on all of the photos I had been taking and to make the kids a “first year” scrapbook. Confession; I still don’t have their first year books completed but since starting Project Life pocket style scrapbooking a few years ago I definitely have more photos in albums, and that’s what counts, right?! I love using my monthly documenter kits to record my families everyday life and the kids really enjoy looking through the albums. I still do traditional pages every now and again and just slip them into my current album. This year starting in January I switched to the 9 x12 size and I think I have finally found the perfect size for me.

2. What’s your go-to technique?

As far as go to techniques I would say stamping for sure. Is that considered a technique? I love stamps and ink and use them in some way on almost every type of project I make. I think that comes from being a card maker as well. Another confession; I have over a hundred different ink pads and ummm not sure if I should admit to this publically but I am sure I must have at least 500+ stamp sets (yes you read that right, that is not a typo although I have not counted them all recently- it could be more!). Another go to technique is embellishing my photos. I love to add something on top of my pictures to make them stand out a little more. Usually I will either stamp on it or attach a one of the fun embellishments that come in my kit. Oh another thing I seem to do frequently is mix color photos with black and white on the same layout. Sometimes it is due to some of the photos not being the best quality or as sharp as I like them or other times it maybe because the colors in the pictures do not match with the products I am using. Either way I love the look of combining color and black and white.

3. Would you mind sharing some photos of how one such project came together?

The first thing I do when I receive my kit is go through all of the cards and pull out the ones that I feel I will use first. I had several photos that I knew I wanted to add to my album from a recent trip to a local park. I print all of my photos at home which makes scrapping so much quicker and convenient. I scrap whenever I can find the time to so being able to print photos when I need them is a major plus.

I do a lot of planning in my head and then just start laying out the photos and cards and move them around until they “look right”. I honestly don’t know how else to explain it. I do make sure that I have a balance of photos to cards. As mentioned I love using inks so I was thrilled the Jolly Holiday Documenter kit came with wood veneer phrases-they are perfect for coloring to match your page. To do this I used Color theory pigment inks then using a photo safe glue I adhere them my pictures.

In this month’s kit there are also some really fun labels with words that I knew would be perfect to attach to my pictures. A really easy way to attach them is using the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

Here’s a look at the whole spread

4. How do you stay organized?

I actually laughed out loud when I read this question. If you were to ask those closest to me or especially my husband the response would be I don’t! However I am working on it. Recently I got my dream of having my own craft room when we added a bedroom in the basement for my oldest. My room is small but I am trying to make the best use of it which has meant sorting and purging a lot of my supplies (bye bye to a large amount of my stamp sets and huge hoard; um I mean pile of patterned paper). My room is still a work in progress and I am still trying to find out what works best for me but there have been a few key things I have implemented that has helped me stay a little more organized. I keep all of my current Studio Calico kits in on the top of my Raskog cart and as a new month’s worth of goodies come in, I add them there but I try never to have more than two months’ worth of kits.

I also recently went through all of my past kits and broke them up adding them into my regular stash of supplies. Now all of my Studio calico stamp sets are neatly stored in two Handbook albums, one for scrapbooking and one for card making. This was a huge project but well worth it as I can now easily flip through the pages to find what I am looking for. I also have a container on my work table that houses my most used scrapbooking themed stamp sets and all of my mini alphabet and phrase stickers. That way they are easily within reach at all times.

5. What is the crafting tool you can't live without?

I have a love affair with the Tim Holtz tiny attacher. It is just so quick and easy to use to attach something to my photos or journaling cards.

6. Where do you go to get ideas?

There are so many things that inspire me creatively. I used to love picking up physical scrapbooking magazines but sadly there are not many left anymore. I just love to have actual physical pages in my hands to mull over, so I have a few home design/décor magazines that I refer to. I find them great inspirations for color combinations as well as texture mixing ideas. Of course the gallery and community here is also a great source of inspiration. I am always so amazed by what people can create using the same kit but have something totally different made.

7. Anything else we should know about you and/or your style?

I think my style generally is pretty clean and simple when it comes to scrapbooking. I do not spend hours fussing cutting titles, hand stitching or painting beautiful water colored backgrounds, but I certainly am in awe of those that do. It has taken me a long time to be comfortable and confident with what I make and my style. I use to spend a lot of time comparing myself to others and that really took the joy out of creating for me. However once I realized my “why” when it came to scrapbooking I was able to let go of the comparisons and find joy in the preserving of my personal and family’s memories. After all isn’t that the real reason we started this hobby in the first place? I also love that I am able to share my heart through my scrapbooking with this community and I equally love being able to enjoy all that everyone takes the time to share here. One of the things that I cherish most about finding paper crafting 9 years ago is the amazing friendships and connections I have made. I believe that the paper crafting community truly has the most wonderful people.