 Happy Sunday everyone! Gia here…I was thinking about calling this post, "As seen on Pinterest (Nailed It or Failed It?)" or alternatively , "Go Big or Go Home!" But I decided to go with the more descriptive title :) What is masked lettering you ask? Well, masked anything means that you use a cut out image to protect the surface underneath, and with whatever medium, color all of the space around the image. When the mask is lifted, the image is defined by the colored negative space. It is easier to show you visually than to describe it, so here goes...   My quote by Emerson says, "Live in the Sunshine. Swim the Sea. Drink the Wild Air." Poetic and appropriate for this photo of my son photo-bombing my selfie against the blue sky here in Hawaii. Because my title pretty much fills the whole space, I clustered and layered all of my embellishing close in to the photo. I used a tag in a stitched vellum pocket behind the photo to add some secret journaling. I was thinking that this layout is an interesting combination of words on top of words on top of hidden words.
The paper I used as my background is from the Simple Stories DIY Boutique collection. There are a few things I would do differently next time-which is one reason why I decided to play with this technique on a layout before attempting to make a larger canvas for my home decor. Thanks so much for joining me in the Art Studio this weekend. I hope you are inspired to get a little messy and free your inner artist! Have you ever tried masking on a layout? Do you ever actually try ideas that you pinned on Pinterest? I'd love to hear your thoughts! --xGia
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  Happy Friday all! This week has been all about Debutante. Isn't she, I'm mean our kit, fun! So far, you've seen Lacey rock out her unique journaling card sketches, Gia get artsy with her gorgeous mood board & flowers springin' up around her photo and Erica getting the most out of her papers by using those end strips of paper. These ladies continue to inspire me every single day! A few weeks ago, we took our family to Disney World. It was AMAZING to watch our little girls faces light up whenever they spotted a character, especially a princess. I printed 556 pictures, to be exact, out of the 1378 pictures I took. Overkill? No way, it's Disney after all! I'll admit that I won't create a traditional layout for every series of photos I took, but I'lll definately be highlighting photos like the one below. This had to be the first Disney vacation layout I created!! This was taken as part of our Dinner with the Princess at Cinderella's Castle. Worth every penny!! I love that our monthly kits are so versitile! You can scrapbook everything from the everyday moments to something as special as your girls meeting Cinderella. I chose the pink 'love' paper for my background for a couple reasons. First, the word 'love' is printed right onto the paper and I wanted it to be part of the title. Second, I loved the painted-on look of the entire pink background. Did you see the paint brush strokes at the edges? Pretty cool effect hey!  I chose the black and white 'plus sign' as a larger photo matte to contast with the pink. The plus signs also had some meaning for me, in a funny way. On one hand, we added another girl to our gang for a few minutes and she fit in perfectly with her blond hair and tall stature (Brad is 6'4" and our oldest Beka is 6 foot!). On another note, the plus sign reminded me of first aid, which I thought for sure Sari (age 7) and Hannah (age 5 3/4) were going to need after meeting the one and only Cinderella!! GASP!!  Ok, getting up close and personal now.. I used the Amy Tangerine camera embossing folder here! I used a glassine bag, trimmed it down and ran it through the embossing folder with my Sizzix Texture Boutique. Next, I slid a piece of the floral paper inside for a fun, softened effect. Those cute little cameras are one of the cut apart journaling cards, which I layered with our Debutante washi tape and those adorable Freckled Fawn glittery stars!  And of course, our kit wouldn't be complete without Clique Kits custom designed die cuts, flair and journaling cards!! I placed the die cut hearts along with the foam Thicker hearts and sequins so that they appeared to float up my layout at a diagnal. I used the 'snapshot' die cut to frame out my "OMG" journaling card. This is fun & fast way to dress up your journaling cards and add some fun dimension to your layout. Looking for a no-fail method in embellishemnt placement on your layouts or cards? Try clustering them them together and varying the sizes and shapes. Check out my little embellishment cluster below, featuring our Clique Kits flair, washi tape, die cuts, Thicker heart, Pink Fresh Studio color block wood veneer and black sequins!   Here's my long term plan for our Disney photos. Once a month, I'll be showing you how I'm putting together our family Disney album with Clique Kits monthly kits. I'm planning on using a mixture of layouts and pocket pages to hold our family's Disney memories all in one spot. I'll also be incorporating journaling by our kids, Brad (even if I have to twist his arm, a lot) and memoribilia we collected on our trip. Sounds fun right!!
I'm looking forward to taking this creative journey with all of you! If there's something in particular you'd like to see, please comment below and tell us! We'd love to help you solve your scrapbooking dilema's and find solutions that work for you. Thank you for spending your time with us today! Until next time, happy scrappin'! ~Jody 
Welcome back to another day filled with Debutante! I hope you are as thrilled as we are about this kit! 
I am so excited to bring you today's post and share my layout with you using our very first kit! You are going to love all the fun product in our kit! Our very own Lacey Gasper has designed some amazing exclusive flair, journal cards, cut files and printables! Ok so lets get into my layout for today! I wanted to make sure to use up the border strips that are on the bottom of most 12x12 papers. They are great pieces to use on your layout and you can use them for so many different things! You can use your tiny punches to create fun confetti, create a fringe border, add layers or do like I did in my layout and use a handful of strips across the center of your layout! 
The border strips bring a great pop of color and fun and I love the green one with the wording! Another great touch to add to your layout! I also used some of the great printables and also cut a few things with my new favorite tool...my Silhouette Cameo! Wow I really have been missing out and so glad I took the plunge and purchased this great machine! If you have any tips or favorites using this machine please share! For my layout I used some white cardstock from my stash and matted it with this great polka dot paper from the Amy Tangerine Plus One collection. I did cut out the center of the polka dot paper before I matted it so that I could use it in other projects! Another great way to stretch your pattern paper! You can see I used more of the polka dot paper in the layers under my photo. 
The vellum piece under my photo has been embossed with the new Amy Tangerine camera embossing folder! How much do you just love this embossing folder? I love the texture embossing adds to vellum and the camera image is way to cute! We may or may not have a couple extra embossing folders so stay tuned to our blog and Facebook for you chance to get your hands on one! 
Thank you so much for spending a little time with me today in the geek lab (even if I do not think saving every bit of paper is geeky)! I hope you will look at the borders strips in a new way and have fun with them! If you have not yet subscribed to Clique Kits you can head on over to the shop and do that here! We have a few left so please do not hesitate because you do not want to miss out! For more Debutante inspiration check out Lacey and Gia's post from this week!
Welcome back to the blog for another day of Debutante Week ! Today you are here in the Art Studio with me, Gia! Do you love color? I do !! We live in such a colorful world, and the fact that there are so many possible hues makes me giddy just thinking about it! Not only can color make me giddy, it can make me feel a lot of different things! Warm or cool, tranquil or energetic, hopeful or sad, whatever the mood-there's a color palette that "speaks" its language visually. Thanks to the internet and websites like Pinterest, it is so easy for creative types to find visual inspiration nowadays, and scrapbookers are no exception. I decided to show you how I used a mood board to create a layout. 
What could be more fun than a little girl twirling in a twirly dress in Springtime? How about two little girls! Here are the three adjectives I used to guide me in my search for an inspiring visual. 1. carefree 2. vibrant 3. sweet And here is what I came up with: 
Linked with Love to Kelly's Studio DIY Blog!
Even though the dominant color in this layout is my current favorite neutral (grey) with lots of black and white, the colors from the "Pool Party" palette were easy to pull from my kit as they are found throughout Amy Tangerine's Plus One collection and really add that "pop" of color.
Here is my supply list for this page: From Debutante kit: Amy Tangerine Plus One patterned papers, Freckled Fawn acrylic arrow, Freckled Fawn glitter star pick, Clique Kits yellow "Play" flair, black triangle/arrow washi tape (which I sliced in thirds to give it a 'lighter' feel), Amy Tangerine Thicker words, yellow sequins, and Pinkfresh Studio yellow color block heart wood veneer. And a few extras: Handmade crochet heart gifted to me by Lacey Igo Gasper (if we all beg maybe she will make these available to the Clique all the time!) Additional washi tape by Papyrus. Acrylic camera embellishment (exclusive Amy Tangerine embellishment from a class kit.) Pink camera paper clip and transparency 3 x 4 cards from Freckled Fawn. Silver striped vellum from Stampin Up and resin bird from Close to My Heart. Yesterday, Lacey showed us some ideas for using sketches for inspiration for pocket page cards. I absolutely love making my own cards, don't you? So in case you missed it, check it out here. And now you have seen another easy way to kick it up a notch in no time flat on your layouts by using a mood/palette board with your Clique Kit! -xGia 
We are so excited to be shipping our kits to our subscribers in a little over a week and sharing the love of this awesome kit with all our friends! This week we will show you some projects we have created with this fabulous kit -- Debutante. 
Something that I want to bring to our friends every month is journal card sketches! To give you a way to use your products in your stash or even your Clique Kits. If you use these sketches please share on our Flickr page or Facebook page and tag Clique Kits! 
Above are the 6 sketches I created to work with the April Kit - Debutante. These are created at 3" x 4", but feel free to adapt the size to fit your projects!
Above you will see the sketch with the finished journal card. These cards were all created with mostly the April kit. There are a few embellishments and white card stock that I added. I also used some water color paints and vellum on the far right card. I followed the sketches for the most part, but also tried to make it my own and give the each their own personality. 
These journal cards are already in my "My Life" album ready for photos to compliment them! I hope you get some use out of these sketches as well and can use your personalized cards in your Yearly albums and scrapbook projects! Remember share with us on Facebook or in our Flickr Group! Haven't subscribed to our kit club yet? There are a limited amount of kits left. Start your subscription before they are sold out. You will receive all the great products below, including a page of printables and die cuts to use with your Silhouette die cutting machine!
Thank you for stopping by today! Remember we are sharing projects all week showing off this fabulous it!! Stop by throughout April as well for even more projects from the Clique Kit gals, our Guest Designer (tbd) and Clique Friends!!
Happy Tuesday and Happy documenting! Lacey   Thank you so much to everyone who visited and left some love last week. The winner of our Blog Share prize is Amy C. Thanks for your kind comments and for sharing the Clique Kits website and blog with your friends and followers! To claim your gift certificate, simply email the Clique Kits gals and we will get you a code to use in the Clique Kits store for some great Simple Stories supplies. Did you know that Clique Kits features designers in the spotlight, shares projects with their collections, and often brings you the inside scoop on the designers every month? We have a blast getting to know the women (and men) behind the products we all swoon over! I'm sure you have probably guessed who our Designer in the Spotlight is for April! Yes , please! The incredible Amy Tangerine! We also want to thank all of the amazing women who have sent us applications for our guest designer call so far. You are all incredible!! We are literally scratching our heads wondering how we will ever choose just one. To make it even harder, our call is still up for another week! (Deadline March 30th) We should also publicly announce that we will very likely be using this opportunity to fill guest designer slots for future months, and not just April- so if you have applied and for any reason would NOT want to be penciled in for May or June if it should come down to that, please let us know.  In other news, Clique Kits is growing by leaps and bounds. Many people have asked when we will be having a call for a Design Team. Well, we are as excited as you are for that day to arrive! In the mean time, if you are in the Clique and you have a blog, you are ALREADY on the team! What? Yes- you heard right. Not only will there be Designer in the Spotlight Blog Shares every month, there will also be Honor Society Blog Shares coming soon! You must be a subscriber to participate. We want you to have an opportunity to show us and the world what you have made with your kit. SIgn ups will be posted in the private (subscribers only) Facebook Group. If you are a subscriber, you should have received an invite to that group- so don't forget to accept! We will cap the size of each share and schedule additional blog shares if need be. Doesn't that sound like fun? Yet another opportunity for you to get your work out there and interact with the rest of the Clique. Be on the lookout for those announcements and further details! Ready, set, go!
Finally, you will definitely want to stop by every day this week as we will be posting inspiration using Debutante . We are beginning shipping April 3rd! That's just around the corner! We know you can't wait! -xThe Clique Kits Gals  Hey all you CK friends!! Jody here and lovin' that it's Friday. We hope you had a blast on our Hazel & Ruby blog share yesterday, we sure did! Thank you for spending your time with us CK girls and sharing our creative journey with us. So far, we're having the time of our lives creating for you. Since yesterday, we've also welcomed a few new subscribers!!! Welcome to the Clique ya'll!' So I ask you, what exactly is a Locker Room? The dreaded place in junior high & high school where nobody wanted to look at anyone else while they're changing into those stellar gym uniforms? The secret location of pranks & jokes played on your peers? Your prep location for the big game or meet? Well, for me it was all of the above and much more back in the good ol' days. You see I've been a jock pretty much all my life and spent a lot of time in locker rooms. My life really isn't that different now. Instead of literally chasing a tennis ball across the court or running the bases, I'm chasing 2 year old Abby and running around our home doing everything else. That's just how life evolves and it's a crazy kind of beautiful. So that being said, I get ask a lot and I mean a lot, how I have time to scrapbook. I work full time, we have 5 kids and I actually do get 6-7 hours of sleep most of the time. My secret is pretty simple ~ TEAMWORK. My family is a team with my hubby Brad and I being the Co-Captains. So, yes he helps with laundry, other daily things and still watches football or works on his truck with his buddy Mark. On the flip side, I'll get some time to scrap since that's how I relax. I do the majority of my creating in small incredments of time though, like 15-30 minutes. Crazy, maybe. Doable, yes! This will vary for everyone, depending on the space they create in, etc. This layout didn't take very long to create, about 45 minutes total. I pulled a full 12x12 sheet of Simple Stories Homespun Simple Basics Kit. I love the muted yellow with dots. Next, I grabbed a few scraps, several left over Dear Lizzy tags from my stash and more PinkFresh Studios goodies from our blog share on March 5th. That was one step that took me about 10 minutes. After kids were in bed and I put some laundry in, I went back and started to play around with my goodies. I grabbed this picture of Abby because I just had it printed. It's from her 2 year check up (November of 2013). She's a riot and was putting on quite the show for the nurse and I. She's also talking more and more, often repeating exactly what her big sisters say... cute and sassy!Hey all you CK friends!! Jody here and lovin' that it's Friday. We hope you had a blast on our Hazel & Ruby blog share yesterday, we sure did! Thank you for spending your time with us CK girls and sharing our creative journey with us. So far, we're having the time of our lives creating for you. Since yesterday, we've also welcomed a few new subscribers!!! Welcome to the Clique ya'll!' So I ask you, what exactly is a Locker Room? The dreaded place in junior high & high school where nobody wanted to look at anyone else while they're changing into those stellar gym uniforms? The secret location of pranks & jokes played on your peers? Your prep location for the big game or meet? Well, for me it was all of the above and much more back in the good ol' days. You see I've been a jock pretty much all my life and spent a lot of time in locker rooms. My life really isn't that different now. Instead of literally chasing a tennis ball across the court or running the bases, I'm chasing 2 year old Abby and running around our home doing everything else. That's just how life evolves and it's a crazy kind of beautiful. So that being said, I get ask a lot and I mean a lot, how I have time to scrapbook. I work full time, we have 5 kids and I actually do get 6-7 hours of sleep most of the time. My secret is pretty simple ~ TEAMWORK. My family is a team with my hubby Brad and I being the Co-Captains. So, yes he helps with laundry, other daily things and still watches football or works on his truck with his buddy Mark. On the flip side, I'll get some time to scrap since that's how I relax. I do the majority of my creating in small incredments of time though, like 15-30 minutes. Crazy, maybe. Doable, yes! This will vary for everyone, depending on the space they create in, etc. This layout didn't take very long to create, about 45 minutes total. I pulled a full 12x12 sheet of Simple Stories Homespun Simple Basics Kit. I love the muted yellow with dots. Next, I grabbed a few scraps, several left over Dear Lizzy tags from my stash and more PinkFresh Studios goodies from our blog share on March 5th. That was one step that took me about 10 minutes. After kids were in bed and I put some laundry in, I went back and started to play around with my goodies. I grabbed this picture of Abby because I just had it printed. It's from her 2 year check up (November of 2013). She's a riot and was putting on quite the show for the nurse and I. She's also talking more and more, often repeating exactly what her big sisters say... cute and sassy!  Here are some close ups for ya! I used a 6x8" patterend paper as the base behind my photo and darned if I can remember the paper line!! Maybe one of my CK gals can chime in today :) It's the one with all the awesome viewfinders on it! Any-hoooo, I used my little trick for layering to add my tags underneath Abby's cute photo. What trick, you ask? My biggest trick of making it easier to add layers like this is to not put your adhesive right at the edges of your photo or other papers. I put a couple small pieces of two sides tape towards the center of the photo, which still adheres is just fine and still allows plenty of room for tucking tags and other elements behind your photo! Pretty easy, right! I added a few of her recent quotes too of course. I know you all recognize the rockin' PinkFresh on this layout! Those color block wood veneers and enamel insta frames rock!! The crochet heart was from our own Lacey Gasper :)   Don't be afraid to pop up those chipboard stickers, enamel embellishments and die cuts either. Look how cool it looks when it's lifted a little higher off your page. The chipboard stars and number are from an older Dear Lizzy line, but they worked in very well with the Simple Stories background paper and other page elements.  So my scrappy friend and teammates, you can fit scrapbooking into your busy lives! If this crazy Mama can do it, so can you. I'd love to hear how you fit your scrapping in or where you go create so leave me a comment sharing your secrets.. we won't tell :)
Happy Scrappin'! ~ Jody  Happy Spring! And thanks for coming to our little celebration! The Clique Kits gals are super excited about sharing projects made with collections by another up and coming small business in the paper crafting world-Hazel & Ruby. The Hazel & Ruby motto is "Live Handmade" and we think that is a fabulous idea! Who is the designer behind Hazel & Ruby? Well, with few exceptions, that would be Jayme Shepherd. Jayme and her business partner Lindsey Moore have brought fresh, hip products not only for scrapbookers, but for all kinds of DIY and home decor projects to the industry. Did I mention that the colors are perfect for Spring? Here is the line-up for today's event... Here is a peek at some of the Chalk It Up and Gone Typo paper collections: Enter to win a $10 Gift Certificate to the Clique Kits Store! Leave a comment on each blog and then return here to let us know if you have shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest for an extra entry each! The more you share, the more times your name will be entered in the drawing, The timing of this party couldn't be better since we have just stocked up our store with Simple Stories DIY Boutique and NEW snap sets which are joining our fabulous lineup of Simple Sets , Daily Grind Snap set and of course A Charmed Life. Worried about shipping? Don't be ! Purchases from now through March 28th SHIP FREE for subscribers with their April kit! If you are not a subscriber, you know what to do right here! Enjoy the blog share. And we hope Spring is blossoming in your neck of the woods!
xoxo-The Clique Kits gals 
I am so excited to be bringing you today's Geek Lab post because I am using one of my favorite new papers from Simple Stories DIY Boutique. The colors and patterns in this collection are so fun and just remind me of all things awesome and happy! I only had a few sheets of the collection to work with and none of the embellishments but that did not stop me from creating my own DIY embellishments! I had a great piece from the DIY Collection that was going to be perfect to use to create my own embellishments for my layout. 
I loved all the elements on the grid side of the pattern paper. I pulled out one of my favorite tools and that is punches! You can never have enough punches and they are perfect to create your own embellishments. I cut and punched out all the elements on this page and then also pulled out a few stamps from my stash to add a little something extra to a few of the elements! 
Another great thing I love is the strips along the bottom of the 12x12 papers. They make great layering pieces to add to your layouts! You can see here I have punched out the elements and have some of my stamped images ready to go. All I need to is start building up my layout. 
One of the great things I love about Simple Stories is that a lot of their collections work well together! This 3x4 grid card shown above with the heart comes from the Daily Grind Collection and I think it fits will with my layout for a layering piece. Once I have my layers placed where I think I want them I add my photo and start placing my embellishments around my layout. 
This photo is of one of my younger brothers and my daughter on her 8th birthday. They have an amazing bond that just melts my heart and I am so grateful for! They both dislike to have their photos taken but he is always up for it when it is with his niece! I love to document their moments together and one day will pass along this book of memories to her. To finish up my layout I added a few elements from my stash and added my journaling all around the layout. I thought I would try something different since I am not a huge fan of my handwriting but Lacey's post yesterday really inspired me. If you missed her post make sure to check it out here. I want to thank you for stopping today and I leave you with photos of my finished layout! I hope you enjoy them and be on the look out for the DIY Boutiuqe in the Clique Kits Shop. 
I have never liked my handwriting. There I said it. It's true though. It isn't something that I've ever loved, I have always thought it was sloppy compared to my friends. However, this all changed a few years ago when I started school to study Graphic Design. I swore up and down I couldn't draw and my handwriting was awful. But then one day I realized, it's not. It is who I am. It is me. You don't have to go to school to be a Graphic Designer to figure that out. You just have to start thinking differently. Your handwriting is an extension and personality of who you are. Yes, you may not think it looks pretty all or most the time, but that doesn't mean you can't make it prettier (in your own eyes).
How can I fix it? 1. Practice makes perfect. You should all know this phrase. It's true though. The more you practice your handwriting, the better you will feel about it. Personally, I write phrases, words or quotes in a sketch book. Whatever usually comes to mind. Things like: love, hello, doodle, dog, bug, home, winter wishes, eat, icecream, sweets... Well you get the picture, what pops in my head goes on paper. Oh, and don't scratch out or erase the screw ups, let them be. This is just practicing. 2. Use different mediums. What is your favorite thing to write with? Pen, marker, pencil, crayon? Work with different types of writing utensils. Find a way you like to grip it. 3. Take your time. This is not a race. When I start off practicing my writing I write slow. That is okay. You try to figure out what you like and how you like it, so take your time. 4. Find what works. Work in different ways to write a letter and find what you like best. There are many different ways to write a letter. When you find a way you like, practice that individually and as well in words. 5. Don't stop. That's right, don't stop practicing. Like I said in no. 1 -- Practice Makes Perfect. Well you may never be perfect but you will find you enjoy your handwriting much more. So keep practicing. Doodle words and letters. Carry a sketch book around with you (I often keep a small one in my purse). Whatever you do, just keep practicing.
So this week I challenge you to start practicing your handwriting and use it on a layout or your yearly document album! You will be amazed that once you embrace it, your thoughts of negativity about your hand writing will go away.  In case you missed it yesterday, we released the images of our ENTIRE April 2014 kit -- Debutante! We are so excited to premiere this kit and to send it to our subscribers! Click on over to our Monthly Kits page for more details and subscribe today! There are only a limited number of subscriptions left, so don't miss out! We are also offering FREE shipping for any ADD on orders from our store and ship those products with your kit subscription. Note, you will be billed for shipping, we will reimburse you. Just send us an email and let us know you want your recent order to be shipped with your kit, so we can reimburse you. Let us know if you have any questions. Happy WRITING!
♥ Lacey |
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