 Isa is an amazing scrapbooking layout designer as well as coptic book creator and mixed media artist. She lives near the famous city of Barcelona in Spain. We interviewed Isa so that we could learn more about our favorite hobby in her country. Read on... CK: How did you first learn about paper crafting hobbies and how did you get started? Isa: Well, I have to confess that since I was a child I have seen my mum and my dad with crafts in general. My mum used to be a teacher and she was paper crafting 24/7 and my father is quite handy so they are the best example for me to follow and I always did things with them. With scrapbook, it was about 10 years ago when my mum decided to take me to a paper crafts festival here in Barcelona. I went with her and a colleague from her school and she already knew what scrapbook was. My mum, following her advice, started buying me all kinds of complements, papers, washi tapes that she could find to get me started. The rest is history. I started searching online, going to workshops and just let my imagination fly and my time. I have to say that scrapbook is my particular yoga and my way of relaxing. It is the best hobby and therapy I could have found. CK: Are you on any design teams? Isa: Yes! Right now I am part of the DT of MissMamamint and Studio Forty. I am really really proud of being part of these wonderful teams. I hope to be a Clique Kits designer for a very long time creating beautiful things! Before I used to work with Cocoloko Scrap also which was a great experience. CK: What are some traditional arts and crafts where you are from or unique to your culture? Do any of these influence your style? Isa: Well, I am not very much into art and traditional stuff from my culture. I am more of an States culture fan LOL! But I have to confess that there are some people from Spain that do scrapbook that have influenced my style since I started. There is a scrapbooker called Mireia Carbonell and she has been my inspiration when it comes to create mix media projects. Everything that I know relating to this issue is thanks to her and I think that my style is quite defined from what I learnt from her. CK: Exciting things to see and do in your city.... Isa: Barcelona is full of great places, if I had to choose only one thing and my favourite one to do is to go for a walk in La Boqueria, which is a traditional market. Its colors, smells, food and all the mix of cultures that you can find there really inspire you.  CK: What are some of your favorite manufacturers or businesses for papercrafters in Spain? Isa: My favorites here in Spain are MissMamamint, because their collections are perfect for all the occasions in one’s life. If I have to choose more I’d go with Lora Bailora, Mintopia, Sweet Moma or Cocoloko Scrap. I am really really proud of seeing that the Spanish scrapbook industry is growing successfully and more and more we have more manufacturers here. I also believe that all manufacturers even the smallest ones deserve the opportunity to have market in this wonderful world of scrapbooking. CK: Tell us about your style and your favorite projects to make: Isa: I’d say that my style is a bit a mixture. I like to create projects full of colors, full of paint and watercolors and sometimes I just go for the most clean and simple things. So I like to try a little bit of everything, always with bright and happy colors. My favorite projects to make are layouts. I think they are the best representation of the essence of scrapbooking. Lately I am also into Coptic binding books. They are really addictive! Favorites right now... Food or drink: I love a good Chai Tea Latte and everything my mum is cooking :P Music/musician or group: I am Backstreet Boys fan. The biggest one you can find hahahhaha TV show: My favorite shows are One Tree Hill and Arrow Sport/team: I love the NBA! I watch all the matches I can with my boyfriend and we are starting with the NFL. Fashion Must haves: My converse shoes are a must always and dresses!! Cannot live without them and they are the perfect combination for my casual outfits for working! CK: What are your must have in arms reach supplies or tools? Isa: My watercolors, my acrylic paints, my book binding and crop a dile! CK: Top three on your bucket list.. Isa: 1. Swim with sharks 2. Write a book 3. Going to Disneyland dressed as a princess CK: Where can we find you online? Isa: I used to be active in all kinds of social networks but due to the fact that some social networks look like they are losing popularity or audience, right now I am only active on my Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/_isa_ng_/ and my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCu2jOhpt_B_LRupAh0ybIg We agree with Isa that Spanish brands contribute amazing products for papercrafters and we share her love for all of the brands she mentioned. Links are provided for shoppers in the U.S as Clique Kits offers a convenient way to try out these amazing brands! Do not let the bilingual language stop you- there are many words and phrases in English and of course the patterns and visual elements speak our universal language...art!
I hope you enjoyed learning more about Isa and that you will leave her some love! -xGia
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Hey everybody! It’s Isa (https://www.instagram.com/_isa_ng_/) and I am thrilled to be here. It is a great honor to be part of the Passport design team and to be able to create with these wonderful kits. On today’s post I want to show you one of the layouts I’ve made using the Unforgettable Kit. I love the colors and the embellishments in this kit.  I have used as the base of the layout one of the patterned papers of the collection that has a wreath of flowers. What I have done is to combine some die cuts of the collection, mostly the ones that are flowers like the ones in the paper and put them with some 3D squares to add volume to the layout. It is a way of making a simple paper more complex and quite remarkable to the eye.  I have placed the flowers around the picture, that it is also with a frame that is included in the die cuts of the collection. For the picture I have used also the sticker with the word “snapshots” because this picture was taken by my boyfriend when we were having lunch in a restaurant and I did not notice that he was taking it.  To add more special details to the project I have added some drops of watercolors of different colors go with the flowers I have used. As a title, I have used the thicker with the word “Bloom” so it can complement and embellish the layout. I hope you like it and you get inspired by it! See you soon with new creations! Lots of love, Isa Product used:   Hiking at 10,000 feet wearing a winter coat then driving back down where the beach is sunny and warm and jumping in for a swim is one of the invigorating experiences on Maui in the fall. It's also a rare experience to walk around above the clouds and not be in an airplane! I always feel a deep respect for the Earth, or the aina as we say in Hawaii. It is so peaceful to take in the scenery and pray or meditate with gratitude for so many blessings. That is what this layout is documenting using the perfect kit for this photo- The Gaia kit featuring Studio Forty's beautiful fall collection.  The Succulents and Crystal Geometric Frame Cut File from Handipaper on Etsy was perfect to frame my photo. I used both the positive and negatives of the file and layered them over the beautiful floral paper in addition to backing the succulent and crystal shapes with papers in the kit and some scraps I had from another layout.  A spritz of blue picked up the blue in the photo and tied it all together against the more neutral background. The Prima puffy stickers add on could not be better coordinated to go with the Gaia collection. I love the Maggie Holmes wax seal shaped puffy stickers in the Gaia kit also!   Products used in this layout available in the Clique Kits Shop:  This Altenew washi tape is new in the shop and I just had to use it right away on a layout! I love to combine bold black and white with any color for an eye catching layout. What you may not realize looking at this is how easy it is to create a layout like this with the Altenew wide washi tape roll, a cut file, and some patterned papers-especially some with elements made for fussy cutting!  The Paradise cut file from The Cut Shoppe was perfect for a sunset on the beach silhouette photo of our daughter and her fiance. The first thing I did was simply apply a strip of washi tape vertically down the page just off center by a tad bit.  I used the Miss Mamamint Give Me Color paper pack to back some of the open letters, including the acetate paper behind one of them. I left some of them empty to allow the bold stripes of the washi tape to show through.  I added some yellow and light orange paint to fussy cut butterflies and also splattered some of the same colors around the background before adhering everything down. I used a hot glue gun to attach the butterflies down the middle only so that the wings would be able to lift off the page adding more dimension.  Finishing touches were some of the ephemera die cut pieces in the Just a Little Lovely sampler kit featuring the Pinkfresh Studios collection. -xGia Available products in the Clique Kits shop: Today we are sharing guest designer Laura Rahel Crosby's final post using the fall Changing Seasons kit. We have really enjoyed seeing her beautiful projects this month. Make sure you don't miss out on her videos to go along with each of her projects, which can be found on her You Tube channel (see link below)     Hey friends, it's Laura here and today I'm sharing a bible journaling entry I created using the Changing Seasons kit from Clique kits. Earlier this month I shared a tutorial on some cute diy doily embellishments. Today I incorporated one of those doilies into my war binder page and created a coordinating bible journaling entry too. You can see how these pages were created in my YouTube process video. I fussy cut the moths out of one of the patterned papers in the kit and used some of the floral die cuts as well as phrase stickers. I love all the bright pinks and reds, it makes for such a vibrant color scheme! I hope you've enjoyed this project, make sure you're following me on YouTube to see all the gorgeous projects I make using this Clique kit! xoxo, Laura
 This post is a story about using a main and junior kit together which truly worked in perfect harmony! It is also a story about moving out of my mixed media comfort zone into the totally new (for me) zone of using cut files and absolutely no paint- not a drop! Here is the cut file I used!  It could be an actual quilt pattern...and it gave me a new appreciation of the talent (and patience) that quilters have! Backing this file with patterned papers took me through about 3 consecutive episodes of watching my shows on Amazon Prime...but it was totally relaxing! This cut file is exclusively available in the Changing Seasons kit right now but will be for sale a la carte at My Crafty Corner on Etsy when the class is no longer available.  I'm not gonna lie- it did occur to me that I could machine or hand stitch the entire quilt pattern. As you can see, I decided against it. I am not sure that my sanity would have been able to withstand that endeavor.  The die cut embellishments (you get 3 packs!) in the Changing Seasons Junior kit are so cute and the colors work so well with the papers in either kit! My favorite is the pack of vellum leaves! Here are more close ups!   Of course- there are things I learned in the process of backing this file that I would do better next time and I will share them with you so you can think about your design in a smarter way than I did! 1. Choose 3-4 patterned papers and vary the scale of the pattern also. I talked to my friend who is a quilter and she says that when choosing fabric she likes to do this and also to choose at least one fabric in a color that has strong contrast against the other patterns. So applying this to the paper patterns sounds good! 2. Be symmetrical: In this "quilt" there is a pattern in each of the 3 rows and columns. Try to back each one of those rows and columns in a way that is congruent or mirror images on each side. I was symmetrical by rows (horizontally) but by columns (vertically) not so much. 3. Once you have backed your cut file, most of the layout is done! Do not overdo the embellishments because the quilted pattern will move the viewers eye all around the page with lots of interest minimizing the need for more stuff! For finishing touches, I varied the height of the embellishment clusters with foam tape and added some random copper metallic thread messy knots to the page! I had printed my photo in black and white but used an iOS app called Color Pop to recolor just the boys' pumpkins to emphasize the memory in the photo. This app is available for Android also.  I hope you enjoyed this post and layout! I'll see you again soon!
-xGia Hey friends, it's Laura Rahel Crosby here sharing my second project using the Changing Seasons Kit. I was obsessed with all the bright colors in this kit, I really wanted to showcase them. I've also been feeling a little burnt out with all the scrapbooking layouts I've made lately so this project was a great way to get creative in a different way than scrapbooking! The best part is that these diy embellishments are ready to go now and can be used on so many different projects. I can use them in scrapbooking layouts, in bible journaling, as a present topper/decorator- there are so many options.  Enjoy these close ups!    Watch the process video here to see how I made these gorgeous diy doily embellishments. Happy crafting! xoxo, Laura
 Hi everyone! Happy Fall! I wanted to share with you all a quick post all about embellishing your journals/notebooks with a splash of color here and there, so it's not all just writing and lists. I have a few travelers notebooks and journals... and basically, I just pick the ones I feel like using at any given time and write and doodle and scribble and write notes to self. Some of my pages are beautiful.. others can be a scribbly mess! I used some of the BELIEVE papers inside the Miss Mamamint Believe kit and papers for this one... I just had to show off these colorful papers... they're all double sided, next on my list is to create a colorful happy journal using these papers! I also used the black and white ephemera pieces from the Give Me Color kit, also from Ms. Mamamint. Get these papers while they're still available in the shop, if you haven't snagged them already... there are so many pretty things in the shop right now.. don't miss all the goodies!    Hi everybody! It's Gia. I am sure you can tell this already... but I love color. Boy layouts for me can be a challenge sometimes. In this layout I decided to steer clear of traditional masculine colors and opt for using the bright palette in the Studio Light Art by Marlene Kit.  I made some freehand wonky circles with some of the gelatos in the kit and used a waterbrush over the lines. I also machine stitched even more wonky circles with black thread for some contrast. I used the same gelatos diluted in water to sprinkle some color all around my background. To add texture to my background I used some modeling paste from Bad Girls Couture in the Bad Ass Art Journal Kit with the Studio Light grunge stencil in the Art by Marlene kit.  Next I fussy cut some of the circle elements in the collage papers and started to lay out a cluster to surround my photo from my son's first grade back to school photo. I used more black thread stitching to tie in the circular background with the fussy cut circles repeating this texture a couple times. You might notice that by choosing to use repetition of some elements of your design whether shapes, motifs, or textures the layout begins to come together cohesively even with a lot going on!  The only items I used on this layout that were not in the collage kit were some On a Whim Thickers by Amy Tangerine which were sold a while back in the Clique Kits shop and a roller stamp by Vicki Boutin to add some messy stamping to my background. When it comes to mixed media collage technique, I have 5 basic "layers" that I tend to incorporate into every project.
 Finally, I added some washi strips and fussy cut collage paper flowers here and there once I had my photo planted where it looked appealing to me. Before adhering my paper pieces to the page, I varied the height using foam dots and tape. This layout did not require a lot of journaling because the photo gave away the theme of the memory I am documenting and many of the chipboard pieces served as more of my "story."  I truly love how this layout came out and most of all the fact that it is one of a kind and no one else will use the collage papers by Marlene in exactly the same way! I think that is what makes mixed media collage a lot of fun for creative scrapbookers! -Hugs, Gia   Hey friends, today I'm sharing a gorgeous layout I made using the October Changing Seasons fall sampler kit by Clique Kits. I loved all of the bright colors in the kit and couldn't wait to use them in a layout. I started by fussing cutting the moths out of a Paige Evans paper from the Truly Grateful collection. And the kit also came with her floral die cuts and some bright and colorful Amy Tangerine phrase stickers and puffy stickers. I painted the puffy phrase "Adore" with metallic gold paint so it would fit in with all the warm orange and pink tones I have on my page. I also hand embroidered fun flight paths from each moth with white thread and it adds so much texture and dimension to the page. If you love this layout, you can follow me on YouTube to see more of my creations and what else I end up making with the kits this month!   While you are over on the You Tube channel checking out Laura's channel you can take a peek at the unboxing video for the Changing Seasons kit and workshop taught by Nicole Kerr! We are so excited to offer this workshop with this kit this fall which will inspire you to create several gorgeous layouts using exclusive cut files also included with the kit! Changing Seasons kits are available and shipping now! Hope you will subscribe to both channels for more inspiring videos!
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