Stay Connected

Posted on April 9, 2012 by studiogatz

As the countdown to Studio Gatz begins, we are excited to tell you about our new email list.

This exciting enewsletter will feature a new product every month and show off the site’s best sellers. Also, it is where we will tell you about special discounts and promotions. (How can you miss out on that!?!)

If you include your birthday (don’t worry we don’t ask for the year), you’ll also get a special birthday month treat!

Don’t forget to also follow Studio Gatz on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest! (and of course here at Gatz Chats!)

TOP SECRET: We’ll be running a super secret promotion in the next month. If you follow, like, subscribe, etc. to the enews and other sites listed above, you’ll have a better chance of winning. (What do they say? The early bird gets the worm!)

Favorite: Coordinately Yours

Posted on April 6, 2012 by studiogatz

I stumbled upon Coordinately Yours by Julie Banner in the wonderful world of Pinterest. I was led to the blog by a pin for hostess gifts, but I found oh so much more.

Like amazing printables and suggestions for events. I just love this table setting for Easter:

Great place setting for Easter Brunch!

It’s simple and elegant with a fun touch (and smell) of lavender. The menu cars/baggies are adorable.

There’s also great recipes and DIY projects (a little something for everyone–most of all the Pinterest obsessed).

Anniversaries Are Hard Work

Posted on April 4, 2012 by studiogatz

Anniversaries are hard work…for the children. I say that because last night was my parent’s 30th anniversary. And while, yes of course, it took a lot of work for them to get to that point, it also took a lot of work to make their present.

Let me start off by saying I’m one of three girls and we don’t live close by to one another (we’re spread between Boston, Chicago, and DC). So trying to plan something together is a bit hard. Thank goodness for group GChat! We started off by trying to meet in DC, where my parents also live, to celebrate, but couldn’t get our schedules to work.

Then SURPRISE! My parents said let’s go to Hawaii. They had been there on their honeymoon and we all went on their 10th anniversary (see our luau gear below). Well I was definitely in for that. “Hey everybody its time to start working out, I’m going to be in a bikini early this year!”

Hula Dancers

Oh wait…just kidding… My dad, it turns out, has a meeting there this Fall. So “Sorry girls, no trip to Hawaii for you.” Way to totally rip my heart out mom (I know you’re reading this!).

So anyway… we loved watching our home videos, but they were all on VHS and my parents were paranoid about converting them to a DVD or digital format. Worried they would forever lose their memories. (Ummm the problem with that is you were still missing out on them because you didn’t have a working VHS player!) So we hired my baby sister to be stealthy and secretly grab the tapes and ship them off to be converted (I had a coupon).

Hello preserved memories! And while 13 hours of shaky video footage is oh so exciting, we needed something more. Enter iMovie (my new boyfriend and a new “Favorite”). This is why I’m so glad to be a MAC. This program was amazing–I was able to slice the old (now digitized) footage with pictures and set it all to music.

I then made these cute DVD covers using my Silhouette Cameo:

And of course you can’t forget that Anniversary card. I made this one using the Cameo sketch pen feature. I had the brilliant idea to re-create their cake. I had that idea before seeing a picture of their wedding cake. It took some time (and a little simplification), but here it is next to the real cake:

So parents, please remember… it’s hard for all of us.

Favorites: Swirly Designs

Posted on March 26, 2012 by studiogatz

I am a long time fan of Swirly Designs. Today they launched their Easter/Spring collection. I’ve already purchased these:

Blue Eggs in a Nest

Veggie Garden Quartet

Paul and Lianne Stoddard make these wonderful “hand-sculpted, hand-painted polymer clay ornaments.” The husband and wife duo release their collections around each holiday season.

I hang my ornaments off my kitchen cabinet knobs and switch them out based on the time of year. I can’t wait to add these to my previous Spring time purchases! I think I have about 15 right now that I switch out all year long. It about the only holiday decorating I do…

If you are interested in polymer clay, Swirly Designs also offer how-to’s on their blog. But word to the wise, they make it look a LOT easier than it really is. Here’s my attempt at simple ornaments for Christmas:

Ornament gone wrong!

Notice the all the bumpiness :(

Trust me, after trying to make your own, you’ll definitely appreciate Swirly Designs so much more!!! Each design is sketched, sculpted (including etching every single signature swirl), painted, and varnished. (Check out the process!)

Act quickly, the most popular designs sell out fast! Make sure to sign up for Swirly Designs mailing list to get alerts of when the collections go on sale.

Favorites: Lost Type Co-op

Posted on March 21, 2012 by studiogatz

I stumbled upon Lost Type Co-op and let’s just say it was love at first sans serif. I’m a sucker for fonts and these really appealed to me because most had that vintage-y, old-fashion flair.

In the about section, it describes the site as ” a collaboration between Tyler Galpin and Riley Cranf … founded with the intention of providing unique and quality fonts based on a pay-what-you-want model. All designers get 100% of the donations their font receives. ”

So basically you pick the font you like and then name your own price. (Is anyone else picturing William Shatner right now?).

Below are a few of my favorites. Click the image to go to the price-font-negotiator page (make sure to sing that last part). I plan to incorporate these into future Studio Gatz’s designs.

Also, check out their blog. It shows where these fonts are currently in use. See if you can spot any!