May 2017 Member Spotlight

Hi! My name is Amy Jo Vanden Brink and I’m so honoured to be a part of the Member Spotlight this month. I am a music teacher by night and scrapbooker by midnight, it’s safe to say I am the ultimate night owl! I live in Edmonton, Alberta with my husband Chris, our 4 year old Max and our puppy Farley. I have been scrapbooking since I was 14 and my mom gave me a Creative Memories album for Christmas. There have been a few breaks over the years, but I came back to the craft when my son was 1 and I was able to put together his first year album in just under a week with pocket pages! Needless to say I was hooked.

Member Since:

I found Studio Calico in November of 2014 and drooled over the Walden kit for about 2 weeks before I finally dove in and subscribed! I am a long time follower of Elise Blaha Cripe and Ali Edwards, and suddenly realized that this was the kit club they were a part of. It was one of those moments where you can’t believe it took you that long to put 2 and 2 together. That kit arrived on my doorstep and was totally killed within 3 days. I have been subbing to the Documenter Kitever since. I love that each kit is fresh and different, some kits have challenged me and some have been the kind of kit that is so easy to use its gone within a few days of it’s arrival!

Favorite part of SC:

I love so many things about Studio Calico, one of my favourites is the Message Board, followed closely by the Member Gallery. There are so many amazing projects in the gallery that inspiration is never far away. The Message Board provides a great opportunity to chat with like-minded people and provide a little fun. Some of my favourite threads are when people are looking for new recipes or the challenges like Layout of the Week and Scraplifting other members.

Must-Have Product:

My must have product from Studio Calico is definitely the digital Documenter cards. I have the digital of every kit I’ve ever bought so that I can use both sides of the cards easily in my albums. I love how flexible digital products are and when I use them along side my physical kit I LOVE how versatile the kit becomes. If I have to choose a physical product that tops my favourite list I would choose chipboard pieces. Any shape, any size, any design I adore chipboard and will always double up on the ones in the kits when I have the chance. They work perfectly on Documenter or Scrapbook layouts!

Project Highlight:

My favourite project ever would have to be my Project Life 2016 album. I know that’s a big project, but I was able to find my personal style about half-way through the year. The kind of easy style that works without forcing it and results in pages I love all through the album. Recently at my son’s birthday party a friend was flipping through it and was so excited to share the stories and photos that were there, to me that is the ultimate in documenting, a great way to share my story.

Project Bucket List:

On my project bucket list I have a few big dreams. One of them is renovating a school bus or trailer to drive around in the summer with my family. My husband is currently in school to become a teacher and once he is teaching our schedules will be more similar than they currently are and we have plans to travel with our son and spend some time exploring Canada and the US. I also think documenting our adventures in a school bus would be super rad!

What Now?

I’m currently working on finishing up my Week in the Life album. I went small with this year’s album and am loving the smaller size and the peek into our life that it provides. I have it about 70% done, so hopefully I’ll have it finished soon. I’m also looking forward to documenting our summer adventures, Max is getting excited for “sweet summertime” as he calls it and is at such a fun age of discovery, so I’m looking forward to documenting what we discover this summer.

Shout-Outs!

As for shout-outs, I want to give a huge thank you to @penny who is so wonderful at keeping the community connected (I especially love her before reveal polls). I would also like to acknowledge Julie McIvor, she works so hard behind the scenes and is always quick to reply to emails and give support when it’s needed.