Today we are commemorating Clique Kits' 4th Anniversary! It is hard to believe that we have curated over 60 kits since we opened in April of 2014. We are so grateful to every member of our community for joining our Facebook group, participating in our online events, and supporting our web store over the past 4 years. As we enter our fifth year, we would love to invite you to to pick up one of our current limited edition kits to use to celebrate international scrapbooking day with us on May 5th. Use code 4YEARS to take 40% off the This is Us or iNSD Kit this weekend only.  And get ready for an amazing online crop with fun challenges and prizes. 

​Today I am sharing this layout made with the digital version of This is Us.

I couldn't wait to get started using This is Us even before all of the physical kit contents came in. So I downloaded the paper collection and paired it with a teeny bit of mixed media and leftovers from the January Rhapsody kit. This kit has sold out, but if you are a subscriber you may have some of it in your stash and I hope this inspires you to see if pairing it with This is Us works for you. That pretty lavender colored paint is the Shimmerz Dazzlerz paint called I lilac you and you can pick it up in the shop right here.  

Thanks for being here with us today and I will be back tomorrow for the April kickoff! 

Hello and welcome to the last day of our Spring/Summer design team introductions!  Today we have Sara R., Angela and Khristina!  First up we have Khristina who was on our team last term and is returning on our Ambassador team!  

1. Favorite Designer: Paige Evans
2. Fav Color Combo: black and white with a pop of color
3. Start Scrapbooking: I started as a kid by taping little treasures in my notebook. In college, I worked and taught in a local scrapbook store and have just always loved recording my stories and documenting my adventures. Creating is my happy place!

You can find Khristina on her blog HERE, YouTube and Instagram!

Next up we have Sara!

1. Who is your favorite designer?
My favorite designer would have to be Maggie Holmes!

2.What is your favorite color or color/combo?
​I love to use teals and pinks. Really anything that is bright, and have been loving yellow latley!

3.When did you start scrapbooking?
I started scrapbooking when i was 9. Ive had pauses in between when i was younger but still love to scrap!!

You can find Sarah on her blog HERE and Instagram!

Last but not least we have Angela!

You can find Angela on her blog HERE and Instagram!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!!  I am so excited for our team to start sharing!  We hope you enjoyed all the intro's and found some new faces to follow!  Make sure to check out The Clique Facebook group to get to know the team even better!  Have a great day!

Welcome to day 4 our Spring/Summer design team introductions!  I am having so much fun writing up these posts and getting to know our team a little bit better!  So much talent going on here people!  Today we are saying hello to Nupar, Sara, Jackie and Suzanna !  First up we have Nupar and she can rock a planner spread like no other!  We are thrilled to have her on our team!

You can find Nupar on her blog HERE and on Instagram!

Next up we have Sara M!  Sara is back this term as a CK Ambassador!  

You can find Sara on her Blog HERE, YouTube and Instagram @sara.scraps

Next up we have Jackie!  Jackie is on our Ambassador team and can also rock the planner spreads like a boss!  

1. Shimelle
2. I'm super in love with the gold, navy, pink and white combination.
3. I actually started scrapbooking about 17 years ago, in my senior year Home EC class. It's actually really funny seeing my books from then to now. ​

You can find Jackie on Intagram @cheekypapercreations ​

Last but not least we have Suzanna and she will be sharing on our first ever Ambassador team!  We are thrilled to have her!

1. Who is your favorite designer?
Probably Missy Whidden; she is the most down to earth, compassionate and creative person I have ever met. Super inspirational on a creative and personal level.

2. What is your favorite color or color/combo?
My all time favorite color is red but I don't often scrap with it. The colors you probably see most in my memory keeping is aqua or teal.

3. When did you start scrapbooking?
I have been messing around with paper and scissors since I was a kid when we made collage scrapbooks whenever we would visit my Gran in England. I first began documenting my life in words AND photos when I went on a trip up the New England coast with my boyfriend at the time, in 1996.

You can find Suzanna on her blog HERE, YouTube and on Instagram

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Come back tomorrow for our last day of introductions!  Have a great day!

Hello and welcome to day 3 of our design team introductions!  Today we are saying hello to Kayla, Ksenia, Jodie, Christina and Carlos!  

First up we have Carlos!  Our first male team member and we are beyond thrilled to have him! You can find Carlos on his blog HERE and on Instagram @carlitos_roco_/

Who is your favorite Designer?
Paige Evans

​What is your favorite color and or color combo?
black and white

When did you start scrapbooking?
I started practically 3 years ago !! if at 12 ... I was always a lover of crafts but this time I knew this wonderful world of scrapbook!  And finally my favorite design..

We are looking forward to see Carlos using our kit coming up soon!  

Next up we have Christina and you can find her on her blog, YouTube and Instagram!  She will be part of our YouTube team and we can not wait!

1. Who is your favorite designer?
Suse fish

2. What is your favorite color or color/combo?
Pink and mint

3. When did you start scrapbooking?
Four years ago

Up next we have Jodie and she is on our new Ambassador team!  We are excited to see her use the kits in her pocket page scrapbooking!

1. Who is your favorite designer?  There are so many inspiring designers out there, but Sheree Forcier would have to be my favourite at the moment.

2. What is your favorite color or color/combo?  Pastels for sure, one colour I use on almost every spread is pink of some shade.

3. When did you start scrapbooking?  I started scrapbooking in 2008, gosh, that’s ten years ago!

​4.  My favourite layout is a spread from 2017.  I love the colour palette, the stitching and other textural elements added to this page.  And of course the pops of gold!

You can find Jodie's blog HERE and also fine her on Instagram @heartpeonies

Ksenia is next and we just love her unique style!  We think you will love what she does with our kits!  You can find her blog HERE and on Instagram  @_i.lo_

1. My favorite designer is Anna-Maria Wolniak (https://www.instagram.com/annamariawolniak)
2. My favorite colors are pink and gray
3. I started scrapbooking in 2012.

Here is a look at one of her favorite layouts!

Last but not least we have Kayla!  Kayla has been a subscriber for sometime now and we have loved watching her grow as a scrapbooker!  She is so inspiring and loves to share in the Clique!  We are excited to have her join the team this term!

I just love all the stitching in this layout!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  We have two more days of introductions and then our team will be ready to start sharing using our April kit!  Have a great day!

Hello and welcome to day 2 of our design team introductions!  Today we are saying hello to Heather Little, Hannah Lemieux, Theresa Moxley, Orange Gearle and Sandy Gonzalez!

First up we have Heather Little (Heather's Crafty Life)!  You can find Heather on her blog HERE, YouTube and Instragram!

1. Who is your favorite designer? 
Shimelle and Maggie Holmes! I cant just pick one! lol
2.  what is your favorite color and or color combo? 
Yellow, Pink and black
3.  When did you start scrapbooking? 
I started scrapbooking when I was 12, my grandmother bought me a scrapbooking kit for Christmas. I got into it seriously after my daughter was born in 2009.

Here is a look at one of Heather's favorite layouts!  She used on of her own sketches to create this layout and stepped of her comfort zone and used some colors she does not normally use on layouts!

Next up we have Hannah Lemieux and she is no stranger to Clique Kits!  Hannah has been with us sharing lots of inspiration!  She is also runs Crafty Maven Getaway!

1. My favorite designer, Maggie Holmes. I absolutely love all the collections she puts out and I am also so inspired by her patterns and colors. I also will say I absolutely LOVE Amy Tan. I wished I loved her collections as much I love her. She is so inspiring and has the sweetest personality. The times I have met here she has this presence that just makes you feel so excited about crafting and documenting. 

2. My favorite color or color combo is teal and copper with a grey or pink. 

3. I started scrapbooking in Feb/march 2014. I started after my daughter had a Man A Wish trip to San Diego as a Zookeeper. I wanted to make an album to about her trip and experiences. It was then that I fell in love!!

One of her Hannah's favorite layouts! 
This is a layout I made for the 6 degrees of Scraplifting. This was the first layout in the round, which I designed inspired by another quilt like layout I made. Here is the link to the process video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD1YTmumERQ&t=1s

Theresa Moxley is a new addition to our team and we are super excited to have her!  You can find Theresa's blog HERE, YouTube and Instagram! 

Next up we have Sandy Gonzalez aka Oh Snap Gonzo!  She is back with us and we are super excited to have her!  She will be sharing all her project on her YouTube channel and you can find it HERE!

1.  Who is your favorite designer?
Maggie Holmes

2. What is your favorite color or color combo?
I like a bright color and black so it helps the colors really pop!

3. When did you start scrapbooking?
I started scrapping about 15 years ago!

Sandy sent in one her favorite layouts using our November 2016 kit!

Last but not least we have Orange Gearle!  She is part of our Ambassador team and we can not wait to see what she creates!

You can find her on her blog HERE, YouTube and Instagram!

1. Who is your favorite designer?
OMGoodness there are far too many! I simply adore Paige Evans and Maggie Holmes. I pretty much love everything Crate Paper makes.

2. What is your favorite color or color/combo?
My favorite color by far is orange. But my favorite colors to scrap with are probably pink, aqua, yellow together…..and usually I have to add some orange somewhere!

3. When did you start scrapbooking?
I scrapped in the mid 90s. But then took a long hiatus and restarted in about 201o. I started because I had a baby. Then in 2012, when I lost a granddaughter in an accident, I started scrapping like it was my job because I need to document everything. I didn’t want to forget anything. And it’s also very much therapy for me.

Here is a look at one of her favorite layouts!  So very pretty!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Come back tomorrow for day 3 of our introductions!  

Happy Monday!  Erica here with you today and I am excited to be introducing you to our 2018 Spring/Summer team over the next few days!

Today we are saying Hello to Rachel, Jasmin, Kat, Fauve and and Heather D.  We have asked each team member a few questions and they are also sharing one of their favorite projects.  Also make sure to check out their blogs and or Instagram accounts!  

Rachel Lowe was one of our Guest Designers in August 2017 and when she reapplied this year we were thrilled to see her application. 

1. Who is your favorite designer?
How can I choose one! Paige Evans and Flora Monika Farks.
2. What is your favorite color or color/combo?
Pink and black is my all time fav color combo.

3. When did you start scrapbooking?
I started scrapping occasionally in 2006 but by 2010 became slightly obsessed!

You can find Rachel's blog HERE and follow her on Instagram @rachellowe____  

Next up we have Jasmin Paar!  We have been following Jasmin on Instagram and just love her style.

And one of Jasmin's favorite layouts!

Who is your favorite designer?
My favorite designer is Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper.
I love their collections. It's exactly my style. I love their color choice and themes.

What is your favorite color or color/combo?
My absolute favorite color is pink. But also all pastel colors.


When did you start scrapbooking?
I started with scrapbooking in 2014.
It always puts a smile on my face when I see our small and big moments on pretty paper.
Sometimes I regret that I started so late with this hobby. But better late than never!

You can find Jasmin's blog HERE and follow here on Instagram @paper_glitter

Kat and Fauve are both part of our Ambassador team and we are so excited to have both of them as part of the Clique Kits team!  We are sure you have all been following both of them because how could you not!  They are both so inspiring!  Kat you will remember has been part of the CK team in the past and we are thrilled to have her back!

​

One of Kat's favorite layouts!  Love the color combo!

1. Who is your favorite designer?
My favorite manufacturer is Bella Blvd and my favorite scrapbooker is MIssy Whidden. :)

2. What is your favorite color combo?
Turquoise and tangerine - it's so fresh!

3. When did you start scrapbooking?  
I started scrapping in 2008 when my boyfriend (now husband) was deployed to Iraq.  I wanted to make him a present.

You can follow Kat HERE and also on Instagram ​@kraftykat

Fauve is new to Clique Kits but not new to the crafting community!

1. Who is your favorite designer?
Paige Evans

2. What is your favorite color or color/combo?
Mint, pink and gold

3. When did you start scrapbooking?
13 years ago in 2005 after the birth of my first son.

We love this layout by Fauve and we know you will to!  You can follow Fauve on her blog HERE and on Instagram @fauvedesign

And last but not least for today we have the fabulous Heather Doolittle!

Heather was also guest designer in 2017 and we are excited to have her on the team for our Spring/Summer term!  Here are her answers for our short Q&A and her favorite layout!

1. Favorite designer:
Elizabeth Kartchner (I miss her projects!) I love her for both product designs and project designs.

2. Favorite Color Combo:
aqua/mint, pink, and yellow

3. Started Scrapbooking:
I started in  2009

You can follow Heather's blog HERE,  her Instagram @heatherphotochic and YouTube!

We hope you check out all the ladies we introduced today!  Thanks so much for stopping and we will have more introductions tomorrow so make sure to come back and say hello!

Hello and welcome back to the Clique Kits blog!  Today I am excited to share our March Designer in the Spotlight!  Most you already now the wonderful lady I am about to announce but some of you may not!  She does a lot of behind the scenes work and without her there would be not Clique Kits!  She is the Creative Director, your biggest cheerleader and has the biggest heart!  Please say Hello to Gia Lau!

​Gia is always full of creative ideas and when she had the big idea of do some scrap shares between 4 friends and following up with a blog share we all loved it!  Then she shares the idea of a kit community..Genius!  And fast forward to now four years later...here we are Clique Kits...going stronger than ever.  Now it has not been the easiest and smoothest road and we continue to learn but Gia is the backbone of CK.  Her wild and crazy ideas have always been a success and what I love about Gia is that she does everything as a team!  She has ideas and brings them forward to us and we all collaborate and get things done!  Its is an honor to work with her daily and her friendship means the world to me.  Recently she has been more involved in the design work for CK and she has been working hard on the first CK exclusive collection This is Us which is not available in the shop HERE.  Of coarse she brought her designs to us and we all collaborated to bring you This is Us!  We are so proud of this collection and I am so proud of Gia for designing her first collection!

​Gia took some time to answer some fun questions to share a little bit about her!  To learn more about Gia and see more of her work you can check out her blog HERE!
1. Where do you find your inspiration
I tend to be inspired a lot when out and about shopping and traveling. I look at merchandising in stores and a lot at window displays where I get ideas for colors, patterns, and trends. Even the decor in certain offices or stores sometimes inspires me-it shows the personality of the brand and sets a certain mood which I bring back to my creative process. There is something special about appreciating good design in 3 dimensional space and not just flattened all the time. The influences of culture and ethnic traditions fascinate me too.
2. How long have you been creating?
 
I was raised in a family that promoted a DIY mentality and we always gave handmade gifts and created things like Christmas ornaments together which taught me a lot about using household items in projects. My mother sewed and knitted our clothes and when we had parties we made all of the decorations ourselves. I started painting in earnest in college and took some studio and art history courses which eventually led me to mixed media as a form of expression.
 
3. Do you have any scraplebrity crushes?
 
The short answer is no. I admire many people for many different talents. Two of my favorite artists are Alexandra Michiardi and Mou Saha. I love Alexandra's simple approach to everything from DIY crafts to scrapbooks to surface design and illustration. Mou Saha has been extensively published as a scrapbooker "back in the day" and recently is known for her work for Design Memory Crafts as a mixed media artist. I admire everything they do and long for the versatility they have to crossover into so many creative genres.
 
4. What company do you miss the most?
 
I miss all of the companies really. I wish they were all still around. I also wish that so many had not been taken over by one company because it seems like they have lost some of their individuality by doing so. I was a Basic Grey groupie for sure - especially in their early days. I also really liked October Afternoon and Sassafras Lass.
 
5. What are your predictions for the next big trend?
 
I actually think that scrapbooking is in a bit of a plateau when it comes to trend turnover. Some trends we have already adopted over the past couple of years are simply continuing. Trends that are not completely new but will be around awhile are all kinds of greenery, botanicals, and even flying things like bees and butterflies and other bugs. We are still loving to see what I call "the artist's hand" in our design- things like paint strokes, handwriting fonts, and textures that tell the viewer "This is uniquely my creation" are really trending- and this will bring more mixed media into the mainstream. I know this is the big picture and not a very specific prediction like, "pineapples" but this is the state of our trends as I see it right now.
 
6. Favorites:
Book - My Life and other unfinished business by Dolly Parton. Dolly's faith, charity, integrity, and positive attitude are so inspiring.
Movie - The Black Panther (best of this year so far)
Drink - very rich, strong coffee in the morning and a glass of chilled Riesling at night
Food - anything my better half cooks- it's his hobby to cook and I get to enjoy the benefits! Going out to eat my favorites are Indian food and Thai food.
Sweet Treat - used to be Australian licorice and Cadbury milk chocolate but since January 2nd I have given up eating sugar of any kind and I am now a recovering sugar addict. My doctor told me to lose weight and lower my cholesterol so there's that.
TV Show - Too many to name- I love television shows and binge watch whenever possible. I am going to be lost when Game of Thrones ends.
Music/Song - My music taste is like my scrapbooking-- very eclectic! You name it I probably have something in my playlist. Recent favorites are George Ezra and that adorable Ed Sheeran.
 
7. What are you most proud of in you Scrappy career?
 
I actually don't know that I have a scrappy career but rather I am one of many artists who have been dealt the cards of keeping a day job and trying to fulfill their creative dreams as a hobby. I am proud of everything we do at Clique Kits and being able to give a shout out to all of the women out there with a need to create that is as strong as the need to breathe who manage to juggle all of their other responsibilities somehow fitting this passion in to their daily life in a way that makes them whole. I am also very proud of the fact that I have contributed opportunities and mentoring to some very talented and strong younger women who have gone on to do great things while or after working with us.
 
Here are some of my favorite projects and design work from Gia!

​Gia thank you so much for all you do and sharing your creative mind and vision with us all!  XOXO

Reka thank you so much for sharing your talents with us!  If you are not already doing so make sure to follow Reka to stay up to date on what she up to and her gorgeous projects!  Coming up in the next week we will be introducing you to our team over a few days!  We hope you will join us right here back on the blog!  If you are not yet a member of The Clique we would love for you to check it out!  Enjoy your day!

Aloha my friends. Today I am sharing the play by play on how I went from unboxing my April Main kit Winter Park to a finished layout in 15 minutes. Are you ready?

Home from work...surprise! Happy mail awaits. But first...dinner...time out to make a salad and start the grill. Now I get the Silhouette going and in no time I am cutting this month's beautiful butterfly cut file by Maryam Perez! It is quite an intricate file so it takes almost 4 minutes on my old cameo. I decide to use a photo of me on my birthday and it is fitting since this month Clique Kits is also celebrating a birthday! We just turned 4 years old, and entering our 5th year! Whew!

​

I audition a few of the Maggie Holmes Flourish pattern papers as a background but decide they are too busy for this cut file. So I pull out my favorite background- white cardstock. I can't ever have enough white cardstock.  Next I grab another cut file that I had previously cut and never used- if you are like me you probably have piles of these somewhere on your desk. It takes me about 3 minutes to back the large butterfly file in some spaces with patterned paper from my kit.  I pull out my favorite embellishment from most of the Clique Kits- the ephemera pack and start to play with my design. To keep the focus on my photo of me celebrating my 49th birthday last August, I used a simple color palette of black and white and just one other color-that gorgeous blue! When I am happy with my design, I snap a photo of it to make sure I don't forget where to adhere the pieces. Here is what the photo looked like:

Now I choose my title from my drawer full of Thickers and other alphabets. I thought about using the alphabet in the kit but decided it would be too much metallic stuff.  I settle on a word from last November's kit and the number 49 from a really old kit but the color was perfect (I was crazy about that Fancy Pants Designs line.) But getting back to the layout, I am ready to stick it down. Spray adhesive was my choice given the intricacy of the butterflies and the fact that it doesn't show through the vellum pieces. It also took less than a minute to adhere everything! I used some foam tape for the photo because it needed a little lift to rest nicely on the background. I wrote in my journaling just citing the day and occasion the photo was taken and quickly sprinkled a little bit of black ink and done! Wow I think that's a record. Here are a couple of close-ups.

Not all of my layouts are this speedy. Sometimes I take days to complete just one! But it is important to make a little time every day for creating and one of the things that really makes this easy is to have inspiration delivered to my door every month. I know you will all be stalking your mailperson in another week or so and in the mean time head over to the shop to grab some add ons to customize your box before its sealed for delivery!

Hello!! I'm so excited to be on the blog today and share a project that I made with pieces of the April kit, as well as a digital die cut from June 2017! I was inspired by the mood board and the April Sketch Challenge!

First the mood board I created with the April Kit: Winter Park in mind. I LOVE the colors and the florals in this kit. And who doesn't love some rose gold! I hope this mood board gets you in the mood to craft and plan for your pretty products to arrive in April.

Another source of inspiration is this FANTASTIC sketch. I already had plans of using a circle die cut, but got stuck, I popped on Facebook and this beauty was staring me in the face. I knew it was my answer to complete the rest of my layout. If you are inspired, like I was, PLEASE play along and upload a project using the April Sketch Challenge --> HERE.

Alright, enough chitty chat, lets take a peek at the project I have come up with using the inspiration above.

Using Gelatos and water, I painted the cut file. I used Gelatos mainly because I was lazy and didn't have to mix colors, but I also love how they blend and work like water colors.

Using the 6x6 Maggie Holmes Flourish paper pad, I picked out some papers that I ADORE and layered them behind my photo of my sweet little puppy.

What I LOVE about Clique Kits is that you can mix and match products from previous kits. I used pieces from both the February & March kits to add small little touches to my layout.

Thank you for joining me today! Hope you feel inspired to follow our monthly sketch challenge for April. You do not need to be a subscriber (or use the kit) to play along. 

​Have a great Thursday!