Guest Feature | Gillian Nelson

We are thrilled to have ten past Studio Calico designers joining us this month in the Creative Team gallery! Each day for the next ten days, we'll be sharing a little more about each of these amazingly creative ladies—we hope you enjoy catching up with them as much as we have!

Hi, gang!  My name is Gillian Nelson, and I was on the Studio Calico Design Team from December 2012 - November 2014.  I’m a former nurse turned stay at home mom, and I live with my fabulous Nelson people in the Portland, Oregon area.  My kids have all grown leaps and bounds since the time when I was most actively scrapbooking.  I was actually pregnant with my oldest child when I discovered this fabulous hobby, and that same child just graduated from high school this year.  I’ve got to say that, with the reality of my kids growing up and moving out of the house incredibly soon, I’m so thankful that my hobby of many years gives me the ability to go back and relive so many memories from when they were small.   

I discovered Studio Calico in September of 2007.  I found my way here from another scrapbook website, and was instantly hooked by the wonderful community and the creativity that was shared in the Design Team and Member galleries.  It quickly became my online “home”, and I loved being an active SC member.  Visiting the message boards and galleries here became a daily (*cough*many-times-a-day*cough*) activity for me, and I met a lot of people here that, to this day, still hold a place in my heart.  In the winter of 2012, I was shocked and flattered to be invited to be a member of the SC Design Team, and I uploaded my first DT layouts to the Block Party gallery that December.  (Block Party remains one of my very, very, VERY favorite kits.  Just sayin’.)  I was so excited and humbled to be working with such talented people, and continued as a member on the Design Team through November of 2014.  

I’m sorry to report that I don’t paper craft very often these days, but working with the Silver Lake Lodge kit has definitely stirred the scrapbooking embers of my heart.  Having been out of practice, I decided to go with a tried and true grid design for my layout.  Because how can anyone go wrong with a grid design, I ask you? Right?  Exactly. I printed the grid out as one whole piece on some 13x19 photo paper, and trimmed it down to 12x12. I loved the different little tidbits and embellishments in the kit, and sprinkled them throughout my photo grid to add some visual interest.  The colors and patterns of the kit’s paper were awesome, so I used big, happy blocks of them to form the right side of my two-page layout.  I took the opportunity with this page to tell 12 little stories; I’ve missed the journaling aspect of scrapbooking most of all, I think.  :)

Thank you, SC, for inviting me to play along in your 10th Anniversary gallery!

See more from Gillian:

Gillian's Instagram