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Hello friends, it's Gia again. The Creative Studio papers in the My Brilliant Friend International Series Kit inspired my to pull out some travel photos from long, long ago.  I started with one of the Aquarius collection papers in the kit as a background and used one of the stencils from the shop with texture paste mixed together with acrylic paint  One of my latest obsessions--the layered butterfly embellishments from Rosie's Studio. They are dimensional, translucent acetate, and some of them have glitter! Like I said- I'm obsessed. I decided we needed to stock them in the store because they are so versatile and who doesn't love butterflies?  The rainbow die cuts are print and cuts in the Clique Kits exclusive Amaranth collection. It is available as a digital download and the colors go well with a lot of the new kits and popular collections.  In this close up you can see all the layers and textures. For my title, I requested a custom cut file from Lacey Ann Designs on Etsy. Your custom cut file is available to download in no time at all and she includes the outline and the solid letters plus a jpeg file to use as a thumbnail for future reference.   Here are some links to products used in this layout: Amaranth Digital Kit My Brilliant Friend Kit Rosie's Studio Arabesque Butterflies -xGia
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Hello Clique Family! Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I am here to share some inspiration to get your love day photos scrapped using some fun Valentine theme cut files!  Today I'm sharing a 12x12 layout featuring an exclusive cut file I designed for the Clique Facebook group Valentine's Day cut file giveaway! If you're not a part of the group, be sure you head over and join in on the fun! The cut file used today, along with several others, are available now in the shop as free .png's to cut on any machine! The link is down below!  I recently got my hands on some of the gorgeous new Doodlebug Love Notes collection and I am swooning over it! When I saw the globe and two love birds, this idea came to me and I totally ran with it! I do have to say, it was probably one of the quickest layouts I've ever put together. Before I even started, I knew that I wanted the cut file to be the largest element on the page. I did some stash busting and found a black chalkboard paper, then coincidentally found the background paper with all of the smaller black hearts. It was PERFECT! I cut my heart cut file on my Silhouette Cameo 4, then laid it on my background. It got lost a little because there was so much going on, so I used my white gesso to smudge a heart right where my cut file would be. After drying, I glued my cut file into place and began embellishing.  I started with my photo first. I knew I wanted to use this specific photo and I knew I wanted to use the globe with the title "My World." For me, it's easier to start with what I know I want first, then embellish around it. I spent some time fussy cutting papers from Doodlebug for added leaves and flowers. I also decided to stick the word "world" on white cardstock and fussy cut around it so it stood out a bit more. Since my photo cluster was on the bottom right of my page, I added another cluster in the top left to balance the layout out. I used a few die cuts and also two layered bird stickers with some enamel dots and thread to finish off this cluster.  Lastly, since do everything in odd numbers, I added another small cluster of flowers and enamel dots. This seemed to bring the whole layout together. After everything was adhered and in place, I added some black splatters and my journaling along one of the lines on the heart. Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to head on over to grab this cut file along with all of the others! Cut file used in this layout:  You can download all of the Valentine's Day Freebies here. Share your projects with us on social media and use the hashtag #CliqueInternational so we can find them and feature you!
When I saw this bold watercolor stripe and floral paper in the Miss Mamamint Natura collection I knew it would be the first paper I used! The color combination of purple and coral is so pretty and goes so well with this selfie I took with my little boy 3 years ago on Valentine's Day. I knew that I could put together a lush layout really quickly because this paper as a background is three-quarters of the way done already.  In order to add interest to the flowers already on the background paper, I decided to use both the floral die cuts in the Natura kit which are part of the Miss Mamamint collection as well as some floral dies in my stash from Altenew and The Ink Road stamps. I liked the way the combination of solid and outline flowers created a visual diagonal across the page.  No one said easy couldn't be pretty, right?  The X's and hearts were made with a new die I found at Flora & Fauna stamp company. I also used some word and phrase stickers from my stash. Sometimes these are a shortcut for journaling when you can find some sentiments that take the words right out of your mouth.   I hope you enjoyed seeing how fast and easy a layout can be when you start with beautiful supplies and a kit that has everything coordinated for you! -xGia You can find the Natura Kit in the shop:  Ciao bella! Gia here excited to invite you to travel with Clique International to Italy where we found another amazing company in the business of designing and selling paper crafting products! Introducing Creative Studio, which is the featured brand on two of our most interesting International Series February release kits! "My Brilliant Friend" Kit combines papers from a number of different collections. It is named after a series of novels by Italian author Elena Ferrante which has been made into a series on HBO. (Season 2 starts in March!) Italy is a beautiful country with magnificent land and seascapes and since I have Italian-American ancestry it has a special place in my heart! The Lila and Elena Add on Kit is a bundle of more embellishments to stretch your kit even further. Make sure you place your order for these kits soon as they are selling out fast! I jumped in and used both kits to start to scrapbook some old photos I have of me back in 1994 when I was traveling through Europe by rail and spent some really memorable days in Italian cities like Florence, Pisa, Venice, Milan, and others. For my background I used a craft knife to hand cut out parts of the watercolor floral frame paper and layered it over another paper so that the sky blue and floral pattern show through and add depth. I built up even more dimension by layering some die cut floral parts from the Aquarius die cut package around the framework. I messy machine stitched my title pieces to the layout with some black thread. In English it translates to "Florence" and "Follow your Dreams." Here are some additional close ups.    The only item in the kit that is not from Creative Studio are the little butterflies made from recycled newspaper. I love the acrylic embellishments in the add-on kit. They are kind of like frosted shrinky-dinks and I love that they are dimensional but not too thick.  Product used in this layout:
Hi, Odessa here again with another pocket page layout. I’m using the Fika kit, but with a twist. I challenged myself to make a layout using just the beautiful cardstock from the kit. I added in a bit of plain cardstock and vellum, but otherwise stuck to the patterned cardstock. It was such a fun challenge! I had some sweet tiny square photos from a summery trip to the park with my boys that I wanted to use so I got busy figuring out how to incorporate them. It’s so cold and wintery here that its really nice to look back on warmer day  I used a couple of the photos as a photo strip and made a full 6x8 layout with them. I paired them with a painted style cardstock and a rich navy with daisies for a bit of light and dark contrast. I then took my photo and cut up multiple layers of different patterns of cardstock to go under my photo to make it pop. I then used the navy Daisy cardstock to hand cut a title to balance out the journalling on the other side. I love the whimsy of hand cut letters!  On the other side I started knowing I wanted to use the rainbow striped cardstock. I cut down a 3x4 card out of it and used a circle punch on it. I attached a square of plain cardstock behind the square to make a space for a simple title. It’s a really easy and elegant way to feature a paper and focus on a sentiment. Next to it I found a cardstock with a great pink next to the brand strip which had the same rainbow. I incorporated the edge I’d normally cut off and made this card with the rainbow stripes to the right to add some playful balance to the page. I then took one of my square photos and added some white cardstock underneath to make it look like an instant photo.  I love shaker pockets so I knew I wanted to play with them. I cut out a strip of the bright animal print to be the main part of the pocket. I used a small strip of navy polka dot cardstock on the bottom to bring some of the navy in from the other page. I love balance. Then I used some vellum on top. I adhered it to the animal print cardstock and then filled it up with confetti that I punched out of the Fika cardstock and then sewed around the edges to close it up. I was going to just use a tape runner, but my sewing machine was already next to me and it really does look good.  I hope you liked this look at what I did with the Fika kit and it inspired you to try some cardstock only techniques! Product used in this project: Hello friends, Emma here again sharing my passport designer layout 'Escape'. I don't know about you but I always find large print patterned papers a bit tricky to use, so I was determined to find a way to make it work for my layout. I'm super pleased with the results & I hope you like it too.  I began my layout by adding hand-stitched details to the big blue floral patterned paper from the Cocoloko Souvenir collection in 3 strands of DMC pink thread. I then selected sections of the paper to cut out so that I could create shaker windows, backing them with clear acetate.  Next I used foam tape around the cut out sections to create the depth needed for the sequins to move around. Using a pink patterned paper from the same collection as my background I carefully position my sequins in place by peering through the windows before adhering the 2 pages together.  I then mounted my photo on many layers of patterned paper from the same collection & created a couple of tags to add to the layers. Using red-line tape I adhered my acrylic 'Escape' title to the bottom of my photo.  To finish I added lots of the cute sentiments from the Souvenir collection & Elle's Studio Tiny Everyday Label stickers, some enamel dots & a sprinkling of Nuvo Vintage Drops. Hope this layout inspires you to use those patterned papers you might find a bit tricky & don't forget to share it with us at Clique Kits. Products used in this layout: 
And now let's dive in to getting to know Emma!CK: First of all, please share the places our readers and fans can find you on the web and social media! (URL/Links please!) Emma: Instagram : instagram.com/emmakatescrapbooking Facebook : https://m.facebook.com/emmakatescrapbooking About your process… CK: Clique Kits is obviously in love with your work. Can you tell us a little about your inspiration and your creative process? Emma: My inspiration comes from many places, it could be from a patterned paper, a photo I’ve taken, or a piece of ephemera. It also comes from friends & like minded crafty people. I usually take a couple of days on each layout, longer for mini books, because I like to take my time, think about it if something doesn’t quite feel right. I often use mixed media too so I leave it dry naturally rather than using a heat gun. CK: What are your ideal surroundings when you are designing? Emma: Location: My craft room Listening to: 90’s R&B Snacking on: Chocolate tools within arm’s reach: Fussy cutting scissors, liquid adhesive, tweezers People/things nearby: My other half & daughter somewhere in the house usually giggling. Other: Wearing my pj’s CK: What is the hardest thing for paper crafters in your country? What is the best thing? Emma: The hardest thing is probably the cost, things are pricey in the UK. The best thing is the community, I’ve made many friends through the crafting world. CK: Do you have a “go to” … color palette? embellishment? brand you love? tool you use all the time? Emma: My go to colours are pink & aqua, you will usually find Nuvo drops & more recently sequins on my layouts. Choosing a brand I love is hard because there are so many amazing brands out there but if I had to choose it would probably be Pinkfresh Studio. The tool I used the most would have to be my fussy cutting scissors. About your history… CK: What was your earliest success as an artist? Emma: Not sure I deserve the title of an artist but I guess my earliest success as an artist was becoming a design team member for Ella Bonella (an online UK based scrapbooking store). CK: How did you start as a paper-crafter and designer? Emma: My journey started with card making, where I stumbled upon Project Life which in turn lead me to traditional 12x12 scrapbooking & I haven’t looked back since. CK: What was your very first paper crafting memory? Emma: The 12 week scan of my baby girl, Bea. About you currently… CK: What have you been doing lately? Emma: Watching on TV: The Great Pottery Throw Down, The Masked Singer, Love Island. Buying: Not much because I’m broke after Christmas but the last thing I purchased was a travel pillow, crafty wise the last thing I bought was sequins. Visiting: Venues for my littles girls 4th birthday party. Using in artwork: Sequins, thread/cotton, inks. Wishing for: A snow day. CK: Something that most people do not know about you… Emma: I play football (soccer). About your country… CK: What are some must see cities, landmarks, or locations in your country? Emma: I must admit I haven’t really explored my own country that much but I love that it’s so green here. I particularly like the Devon coast line (south of the UK), it’s beautiful! CK: Are there any national or cultural traditions unique to where you live you can share? Emma: I guess the south west of the UK is famous for its cider & Cheddar cheese, if you are ever visiting its a must try! Thanks so much for allowing The Clique to get to know you better! Here are a few examples of layouts from Emma's Instagram feed using product from Ella Bonella Scrapbooking! Hi! Odessa here from the middle of Canada. When I saw the Studio Forty Gaia kit I knew it would pair perfectly with some family adventures. Over the holidays we drove up to Riding Mountain National park here in Manitoba to spend the weekend in a wintery wonderland with wood stoves, snowy hikes in the woods, ice skating and cozy family time together. The nature-focused imagery in the kits was just perfect and a great way to show off my (currently very chilly) part of the world. Winter is so long here that it’s important to me to get out and enjoy it instead of hiding inside.  I’ve been documenting in a big family album this year with monthly layouts and separate sections for my favourite adventures, all in pocket pages. As usual, I started by laying out all the photos and then slowly adding more and more of the lovely embellishments until it was just perfect! The left side of the layout is full of all sorts of stickers, chipboard stickers, sparkle and more and the left side is a little more simple to let the large 6x6 photos shine.  The kit comes with some great extras I made sure to include; an adorably cozy stamp set, cute charms, some sequins that I had too much fun with, tags, tickets and more which were so easy to mix in with the kit. I filled up my pockets by stamping on the tags, adding clusters of charms, chipboards and sequins, and my favourite of all, a little chipboard sticker surrounded by sequins. It was the perfect thing to add to the sky in the photo!  Gaia came with a cut apart sheet full of 3x4 journal cards that I used on the page but made my own with embellishing - I added the tickets to the woodgrain one with some stamping, a cute floral card that I added word stickers and chipboard to and a leafy patterned one that I stuck one of the pretty envelope seals to.   On the other side I just cut down an adventure-y patterned cardstock to fit in the pockets. I used a different leafy pattern for one of them which I added one of the tags to. I then stamped a phrase from the stamp set on top to add a focal spot to the page.
I hope you liked this look into winter fun here in the middle of Canada! Hey Clique friends, Rachel here and I am thrilled to be back as a guest designer for January. So let’s talk all things Memorydex! Initially I had little interest in creating memorydex cards, how could one ever create with such a small area to work with and what was the actual point of them?! In my pursuit of creating something everyday, which is my ‘must do’ to maintain my inner calm I started to play and from there my passion grew. I love creating inspirational quote memorydex cards, which I sit in a tray on my desk, yes they look pretty but the quotes remind me of the things in life I am grateful for, a quote of encouragement when perhaps my day is not going so well.  Taking this a step further I always create a memorydex card celebrating our seasons, our holidays and traditions.  Themes are also another focus, such as travel highlights memorydex cards. You have the option of incorporating a photo to the front of your memorydex card or placing them on the back with a little journalling. I often cut a small envelope, attach to the back of my memorydex card and fill with photos and journalling. You will see this is a 3D bag that I then filled with beach themed elements. Memorydex cards don’t have to be flat.  You have either the choice of using a Memorydex Roller or a tray (or both!). These are super simple to create. As long as you have a box with a minimum width of of 5 inches you can personalise your own tray. Use a standard memorydex card to line up where you need to punch two holes, front and back of box, insert two straws (I have a collection of coloured ones), thread some strong string down the straw, through the punched hole, do this to both sides and tie a knot to secure. You then just have the fun part to do, decorate your box.   So here is the kit I received from Clique kits to do some Memorydex creating: Here are links to products still available! Serendipia Main Kit Serendipia Junior Kit Stamp Sets and Inks Altenew String Art Dies    I have a Heidi Swapp Memorydex punch* and her metal dies (you get one in the Clique Kits Memory Dex starter kit!). There are also cut files available if you have a cutting machine. The good thing about owning the punch, you are not limited to certain shapes and sizes, with the punch you can create almost any shape and size memorydex card. * These are expected to be in stock soon so be on the look-out!  I created a mid sized tray to put my memorydexcards in, keeping it simple but pretty, using the clear stickers in the kit and papers to cover outside only.    I headed over to the Clique Kits store and downloaded the flower and rainbow digital cut files. I ensured that I used a width size so they would fit in my tray. I paper pieced both cut files and on the flower cut file I added with foam tape some extra petals (release compound function of you have a Silhouette Cameo and drag out the specific pieces you want to cut) to add dimension.   I stamped both the beautiful girls and coloured to shades to coordinate with my papers. I added them with foam tape over the flower and rainbow shapes. I used the cut ephemera to embellish, tucking them under the girl stamp. I finished off with my inspirational quote/word. I cut 2 1/2 inches in width (with enough height to attach to the back of the shapes) white cardstock and punched, then gluing this piece behind the flower and rainbow cut files.  Clear memorydex cards are all the craze at the moment, and fun to fill with pretties such as sequins and decorate the outside. You can either Fuse it together if you have a fuse tool, or hand/machine stitch together. I added townie cut flowers to the inside along with white sequins and clear heart sequins. I then added the puffy bird sticker to the outside and the die cut phrase sentiment with small flower.   Another great idea for a memorydex card is cutting an envelope and filling it (this is where you can add photos, journalling) as I have done here, filling it with die cut ephemera flowers.  Here is an example of a tab metal die memorydex card, I kept this one simple but adding a strip of pom pom ribbon to add texture and using two different papers for the base.  As you can see from all of my memorydex cards created with my kit, you certainly can create a variety of shapes, sizes, materials and themes. I have used a few extras from previous Clique Kits, and yes they are amazing for using up your stash of embellishments and paper pieces (as you don’t need 12x12 papers).  You will be able to pre-order the Heidi Swapp black spinner and the Heidi Swapp Memory Dex punch in the Clique Kits shop very soon so stay tuned!  If you have any questions please leave it in the comments and I will get back to you! I hope I have inspired you to start your own memorydex collection.
I will also be posting some FB memorydex card challenges soon, so watch out for that. Join The Clique for this and other events and a chance to win great prizes! Rachel X  Hello to everyone at Clique Kits, a super excited Emma here sharing my first layout 'My Little Fishy' as Guest Designer for the month of January From an early age my daughter Bea has loved the water so as soon as I saw the fish in the Cokoloko Souvenir collection I knew what I wanted to do. Furthermore, the blues of the collection matched perfectly the blue within the pool photo's.  To begin I coated my white cardstock with gesso, then using the packaging technique, Altenew ink cubes & water I created my mixed media background. Next I tore 2 strips of patterned paper & adhered it to my background, machine stitched in blue thread along the straight edge therefore creating an anchor for the rest of my layout.  Then I mounted my 3 photo's using tissue paper, patterned paper & tags from the kit, & staggered their placement along my torn strips, adhering them using foam tape. I also added my title on top of my photos using the American Crafts Heidi Thickers.  Now for the fun bit (well for some of us), fussy cutting! Using all my fussy cut foliage & fishes plus nests of cotton in the same colour of the machine stitched lines I created areas of embellishment throughout my layout. To finish I added my journaling & lots of sequins to add some sparkle to my layout, I like that they kind of look like bubbles, very pretty, shiny bubbles. Can't tell you how much I enjoyed creating this layout & I hope it will inspire you to get crafting! Products used in this layout in the Clique Kits shop. |
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