Hello Clique Kits fans! Erica here with you today to share a pocket page layout I did yesterday. Baseball season has started which means my nights will be spent at the baseball fields from now until June! This year we have two of our kids playing so that will be 4 games a week! Crafting time will be cut short for this mama but that is ok with me! Clique Kits has put together kits that make creating quick and simple with coordinating and exclusive products! Today I want to share with you what I created yesterday late afternoon right before my son's first baseball game! I have had these photos of our two youngest boys sitting on my desk and I knew this kit would be a perfect match for the photos! Debutante has some great black and whites to use as neutrals but also has great pops of color! The color I wanted to really make pop was the yellow from the swing in the photos! I knew this kit had a great yellow flair badge that went perfectly and just happens to have the word PLAY on it and the heart shaped colorblock wood veneers with yellow from Pinkfresh Studio are also a perfect match! Here is a look at my completed pocket page layout! 
This style pocket page has room for 4 4x6 photos or cards. I used two of the 4x6 Clique Kits exclusive journal cards for the top two spots and for the bottom left corner I created my own card using pattern paper from the kit and a white piece of cardstock. The last 4x6 spot I ended up using the two 3x4 Clique Kits exclusive journal cards together to create one 4x6! I love how it looks! These Clique Kits exclusive journal cards are not your typical cardstock journal cards. They are nice sturdy journal card with a bit of a shine to them! The quality is amazing and our very own Lacey Gasper has designed each and every one! I used a regular thin point sharpie to add my journaling and there is no smearing or smudges! This kit is great for both girl and boy themed projects. Adding pops of pink instead of the yellow would have made for a very cute girly page for photos of my daughter! I love that this kit offers the great black and whites and the colorful embellishments so that you can add pops of color where ever your heart desires! The possibilities are endless with this kit! Here are a few close ups of my pocket page layout. 
Thank you so much for stopping today here on the Clique Kits blog! I hope you are having as much fun with our first kit as I am! Please join us next week for our Blog Share featuring Debutante! We have added a few new items to the Clique Kits shop that coordinate with our first kit that you are just going to love! So make sure to head on over and check them out! Also if you missed the sneak peek of our May kit please CLICK HERE to check that out! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day! If you do not already please subscribe to our newsletter and also check us out on Facebook!
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Field Trip is going to get you in the mood for adventure. Everyone knows that truly adventurous spirits do not necessarily have to leave their hometown, but if you've caught the Wanderlust the May kit is perfect for you too. At Clique Kits we love color! But not every rich, modern palette has to be the same…this time around we have a totally NEW and fresh look for you from another one of the industry's amazing designers. Like always, you will have a chance to meet our May Designer in the Spotlight on the blog next month. Field Trip is jam packed with product and whether you are a traditional scrapbooker or do pocket page layouts you are going to feel as if you have the best of both worlds without the need to subscribe to two separate kits. Love embellishments? We have all the bases covered including more of the exclusives such as our in-house designer flair, printables, die cuts, and some of the trendiest new embellishments from your favorite brands. The Clique Kits gals hope you will join us on our Field Trip this May! Click. Connect. Create.And now, for the winner of last week's Blog Share Prize! We want to thank everyone who participated in the Simple Stories Blog Share. We had so much fun sharing and chatting with you all. The winner of the gift certificate to the Clique Kits store is Louise Squires. (Sound effects: applause, horns, and some good old shout outs!!) Louise we will email you the code to use to claim your prize!
Last but not least….a preview of what we have coming soon! This Week: More inspiration from the Clique Kits gals right here on the blog. Also, more products being added to the school store-so check in often! Next Week: April Guest Designer Brooke Petermann will be sharing her A-MA-ZING projects using the Debutante kit. You will not want to miss seeing what she has created and another little surprise in store for you! Stay tuned! Wednesday April 23rd will be our PEP Rally ! Join us for our first subscriber blog share featuring Debutante! If you are a subscriber who blogs, it is not too late to join the fun AND earn some honor credits. Read all about it here. April 25th -which is just around the corner now-- is the BIG day of the FULL REVEAL of Field Trip. See you all soon! --xoxo The Clique Kits Gals 
I love buying and creating 3 x 4 journaling cards. I'm always looking for different ways to use them and incorporate them into my projects, beyond pocket protectors! I love the 3 x 4 cut apart cards included in the Clique Kits - Debutante Kit this month! They are so funky fun! I couldn't wait to cut them apart and create a layout centered around these fantastic cards! 
As you can see I used the cards as elements on the layout! I layered papers, cards, Clique Kits die cuts (available now in store), and embellishments to create this fun layered layout! This is a great way to use your journal cards and small sections and scraps of paper. If you don't like side A of the journal card, there is always side B, which is typically an awesome pattern you always hate wasting. How do you use your 3x4 journal cards? Do you scrapbook with them beyond a page protector?
  Happy Monday all! Jody here today with a fun tutorial on how I die cut wool felt and fabric with my Cricut. Yes that is correct, you CAN cut fabric, felt and other materials with your Cricut machine. You just need a few specific supplies, it's actually pretty easy. Here's your supply list for this technique: ** Heat & Bond ~ available at your local craft or fabric store ** Wool felt ~ not the kind you buy in your local craft store. You need the good stuff for this technique. Here's a great site I use ~ Prairie Joint Junction ** Clothes Iron & Ironing Board (or counter area and an old towel) ** Cricut Deep Cut Blade (not pictured)  Let's talk about the wool felt first. I tried the polyester craft felt found at Hobby Lobby and it is NOT the same as the nice wool felt. The wool felt is much more dense and doesn't pull apart like craft felt does easily. I highly recommend investing in the wool felt for this technique. Or, you can cut fabric in the same manner. First, you'll need to follow the instructions for the Heat & Bond to adhere it to one side of the wool felt. This is very easy to do and that's coming for this girl who HATES ironing! The Heat & Bond serves as a fabric stabilizer and gives you a nice smooth surface for adhering to your Cricut mat. I do recommend a newer or stickier mat to keep the felt from shifting on the mat. After you iron on the Heat and Bond, remove the paper backing to reveal the shiny and smooth 'iron-on' side of your felt. Place the prepped wool felt onto your sticky Cricut mat just as you would any paper or cardstock. Some additional technicalities: I set my Deep Cut Blade to 6, pressure and speed to Max. I slowed my speed down to High for the "Hello" die cut shown above. I also engaged my multi-cut function to cut the image twice. If you're not very familiar with these settings or with your Cricut machine, take this opportunity to play with it!! After you've die cut your image, carefully lift it from your mat. Depending on the thickness of your wool felt, you may have to trim a bit with your fine point scissors. I usually don't have to do this though. Overall, pretty easy right! I hope you enjoyed making your own felt embellishments with me in the Locker room today. Happy Scrapping!!! ~ Jody Now Available in the School Store!
Amy Tangerine Plus One Embossing Folders and Rub Ons coordinate perfectly with the April Kit! Earn Honor Credits to use to buy these items and any of the Simple Stories items in stock by participating in our Pep Rally on April 23rd!!
 Happy Sunday Clique Kits fans! Erica here with you today in Study Hall to bring you some simple no stamping cards! I do love my stamps but sometimes it is nice to put together some quick cards using supplies and embellishments you have from kits that might not include stamps! I love to use up as much as my kits as possible and this is another great way to get that done! Here is a look at what I have left of my April 2014 Clique Kits Debutante.  You can see I have a variety of scraps and embellishments left and they are just the perfect size to complete some great cards! I pulled some black cardstock from my stash to use as my card bases but white would do just as well or you could also use the pattern papers from your kits as bases too! My first card was super simple and only used a couple pieces of pattern paper, thickers and a few sequins. One way to add a little something extra is to pull out some border punches! I used my scallop border punch from Stampin Up.  Super simple but I think anyone would be happy to receive this handmade card in the mail any day! For my 2nd card I pulled out a few extra tools to help create this card and also some chevron ribbon from my stash that goes perfect with the sequins in this kit! I ran a few of the pattern papers in my cuttlebug with a few of my favorite Stampin Up thin metal dies and cut a scallap square using my Cricut Mini. I layered these elements onto each other and popped them up on my card! Tied a super cute bow with my chevron ribbon, added a few sequins and Ta-Da card complete!    Creating cards that are super cute and fun with no stamping is very easy to accomplish and I hope you will give it a try and use up some supplies in your stash or your 2014 Clique Kits! We would love to see what you come up with so make sure to tag us on Instagram, upload to our Flickr Gallery or post to our Facebook page! Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you will join us for our Debutante Blog Share coming Up April 23, 2014! Have a wonderful day!
I am obsessed with instagram. I love to take photos with my phone and share them in the online gallery. I love to look at other peoples photos and see what they are up to that day. One of my main subjects is my puppy baby, Spock. Another thing I like about instagram is that I have square photos. I love using these photos sizes for my layouts and projects. They are already cropped how I want them and I just have to print them off (either at home or online, I use Shutterfly). I love to printing my photos in 4x4, 3x3 or 2x2. They make great featured images on a project! Today, I'm sharing a layout using our April Kit - Debutante! This layout came together in less then 30 minutes, actually more like 20 minutes. I love when layouts come together like that! Of course, this is a layout of my sweet little guy! I used the strips at the bottom of the Amy Tangerine - Plus One papers to add texture and visual interest the to background of my layout. I ADORE this large strip paper as well. I focused on using black and white with the pops of aqua and te small pop of green in the paper strip. 
Here is a close up of the paper strips, the awesome acrylic arrow from Freckled Fawn and those fantastic foam stickers from the kit! I also used the 3x4 die cut to create some interest as well! 
Thanks for stopping by this Saturday and joining me! It's been such a fun and busy week here at Clique Kits, with our blog share, blog posts from Amy Tan herself and our April Guest Designer - Danielle! We have so much in store for you in the future as well! We've had planning meetings this week and are getting VERY giddy to start showing you the May kit!! Thanks for all your support! If you want to join our club, please join the wait list - located in our store under "subscription." Have a scrap Happy DAY!
Lacey 
Hi everybody! We are so excited about today's Blog Share using Simple Stories products. Here are some things to know about the Simple Stories company:
Rather than stop there, to make this event really special we are holding a ONE DAY ONLY FLASH SALE on the Simple Stories A Charmed Life Paper collection (which is already an incredible value for all that it comes with!) Today only and while supplies last use coupon code CHARMED40 to get 40% your purchase of the A Charmed Life collection in the Clique Kits Store. We still have lots of Simple Stories in stock including some really fun Snap Sets ( cards) and we will be getting even more in later this month! And now, for the BLOG SHARE! Here is your lineup: Clique Kits <------------- You are here. Gia Jody Erica Lacey The prize for today is a $10 gift certificate for the Clique Kits Store! What do you have to do to enter the drawing? First, stop by each blog and leave a comment so we know you were there. Become a follower of Clique Kits on the Social Media of your choice (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest) and subscribe to our blog via email ! We will not bombard you with anything except invitations to sales and events and inspiration as it posts on the blog!
Clique Kits has sold out of its debut kit Debutante and subscriptions will not be available again until July. If you want to be guaranteed a space in July, please follow the subscribe button to sign up for our wait list. -xoxo The Clique Kits Gals 
Clique Kits is so excited to have Amy Tan as our Designer in the Spotlight this month! Her Plus One collection is the featured collection in Debutante, our April kit, and it is no wonder that it has been so popular! Amy is the owner of a creative company called Amy Tangerine, and has been designing collections for American Crafts for several years. She teaches classes all over the world, and is the scrapbooker-on-location for the stars in Los Angeles! This past year, Amy's family increased in size by plus one when she had the cutest little guy ever named Jack Archibald. We hope you enjoy learning more about her!
Q. Paper crafters are eager to learn about the scrap-lebrities who design the products they love. Would you mind answering some questions to help our readers get to know you better as a person and designer? A. Not at all! Q. Is there a story behind your name and logo (Amy Tangerine)? A. A friend of mine came up with it back in 2000 when I was doing fashion styling. I started off as Tangerine Productions, but when it came to trademark & copyright, I decided Amy Tangerine was more fun. Q. We know that you have become a superstar and celebrity in the scrapbooking world, and that you teach all over the country/world. Can you share the most interesting or outrageous experience you have ever had, or maybe give us some highlights of your career as scrapbooker for the rich and famous in Los Angeles ? A. I feel incredibly blessed when it comes to the opportunities I have had. Not only do I get to travel the world – Europe, South Africa, and Australia promoting my collection, but I also get to meet members of this fantastic scrapbooking community. It’s really the best job. Oh and living in Los Angeles has opened up doors when it comes to scrapbooking for high profile clients. Some of the cool celebrity events I have worked include Dr. Phil’s 60th birthday party at the Beverly Hills Hotel and numerous kids birthdays of musicians and actors. Q. How did you get started as an artist/designer? Were you always creative? A. I think I’ve always been pretty creative, always having paint on my clothing and only a little on my apron back in junior high (some call this middle school). After getting a degree in Fashion Design & Marketing in 2000, I worked as a stylist and then went onto launch a tee-shirt line. When I discovered scrapbooking in 2007, my interests started shifting from fabric to paper and I debuted my first collection with American Crafts in 2010. Q. Where did you get the inspiration to create your first signature line? All of your collections that followed were different and yet retained the Amy Tan “look” with elements such as cameras. Can you share little bit about your design process? A. The inspiration from my first line was a mix of all the things I loved. Since I had been scrapbooking for just a few years before it launched, I tried to come up with something I thought was fresh for the industry. I get to work with an awesome team at American Crafts – because of the success of the previous lines, they trust me when I want to push the envelope a little bit. Q. What do you consider to be your greatest artistic accomplishment? A. This is a tough one. Can I say my son, Jack? Well, the other day while setting up my table for live tv at HSN, Martha (yes, THE Martha Stewart) walked past and said, “Oh… cute.” That was really neat. Q. Where do you see yourself in 10 years professionally? A. Hopefully still actively part of a creative company called Amy Tangerine – perhaps with more licensed products and ranges of services to offer. Q. As an artist/designer, who are your mentors and/or influences ? A. I am inspired by passionate makers. My mentors are still those I had from the fashion industry. Many of them have had huge success with clothing lines and some are top editors at magazines. They always believed I had a fierce drive and was capable of building an empire. Not sure I have done exactly that, but success is something that needs to be defined on an individual basis. Sometimes my biggest success is doing 3 things in a day, which might include showering, a few solid hours of work and taking care of Jack. Q. And now, on the more personal side: As a first time Mom, you undoubtedly received a ton of pregnancy and parenting advice. Can you share what has turned out to be the best advice you received ? The worst (or at least it didn’t work for you)? A. Best: To enjoy every bit because it goes by quickly. Motherhood is much harder than I thought it would be. My recovery from a C-section was difficult. There are so many different phases and he seems to change every day. I am really just trying to soak it all up. Worst: I can’t even remember. I tend to take things with a grain of salt when it comes to unsolicited advice that has been bad, so I have likely just brushed it off. Q. Favorites: Movie- She’s The One Book- Catcher in the Rye Food- nachos Dessert- salted caramel ice cream Place to vacation- Hawaii Music to listen to while creating? Pandora stations Clothing Store- Nordstrom Q. Three things that people probably don’t know about you... A. 1. I am highly allergic to cats and mosquito bites 2. I dream in color. 3. I take too many photos of Jack. Q. And finally...Do you have any words that you live by? A. The secret to life is knowing how to make the bad times good and the good times unforgettable. That sounds like great advice! Thanks for making our debut kit and our Designer in the Spotlight post unforgettable Amy! -x The Clique Kits Gals 
As we announced last week, we have TWO fabulous guest designers this month! Today, we want to show you a few projects by Danielle de Konink from the Netherlands. Danielle has a spunky style that fits our first kit, Debutante, to a T! I love how she worked in the printables, die cuts and kit embellishments into this first layout. Danielle // This layout is about my niece Phiene during our family vacation in Orlando Florida. At the time she was only 2.5 years old, but she was so excited to do the slides at Aquatica. She has no fear and was so proud of herself that she even did some big ones. All the bright colors in the picture were a perfect match with the Plus One papers. I used the Pinkfresh hearts as photo corners. As you can see I'm in love with the exclusive printables that came with the Debutante kit. I've already made a couple of prints of them and I'm sure I will use them a lot! 
Supplies Used // Clique Kits: April Debutante (Kit, die cuts, printables); Amy Tangerine: Plus One (Alphabet Stickers) Danielle // Last Saturday I went to Delft to meet up with my scrappy friend Monique. Delft is not even 30 minutes away from me, but I don't go there as often as I should. It has such a beautiful historic city center, I went all nuts with taking pictures! I felt like a tourist in my own country. Delft actually is very touristic and there are many fun photo spots, like this one with the huge wooden shoes. For the layout I decided to print this picture twice, one in color and one in black & white. I wanted to give this layout some kind of street art feeling, which works perfectly with the airbrush elements in the Plus One collection and the splatters on the journaling cards. 
Thank you Danielle for sharing your fantastic layouts you created with our kit! I can't wait to sit at my own craft table now and create more with Debutante! You will see more of Danielle's projects later this month during our Blog Share (April 23). Also, check out her blog, Pics & Cheesecake, to see more inspiration! Did you know that we ship internationally? Please contact us for shipping prices and placing your order. If you missed out on the kit and want to join the clique, please join our waiting list for future kits!
Also, coming this week, Simple Stories Blog Share with the Clique Kit Girls! Join us April 9 for inspiration on how to use the Simple Stories products! There will be a prize giveaway to one lucky commenter! The blog share will begin at 10am CST, here on the Clique Kits blog! 
Aloha, its Gia. In early 2011 we were lucky enough to have a job transfer to Hawaii. It was pretty crazy at first- we left our friends and family, packed our bags, and made the journey to paradise! I had been to Hawaii once before on vacation in 2007, but nothing can really prepare you for such a major change. After living here for over 3 years, we have become like the locals and try to steer clear of the places tourists frequent. We don't go to luaus unless we have visitors, and we have started to take the beach for granted sometimes. But back in the first year it was a different story. And when the kids corresponded with their friends back in the mid west they answered a lot of funny questions, like whether we lived in grass huts ! The kids and I thought it would be funny to take our first Christmas photo in Hawaii in full surf and hula gear. 
I had a concern with scrapbooking this photo Christmas card because it was printed on both sides. My husband took one serious shot and one with everybody goofing off- and we decided to use them both when we designed the card. Sadly, the originals were lost in a hard drive that crashed with photos not yet backed up! So, the one or two cards I had leftover were my only copies of these family pics. I really didn't want to roll adhesive over one side or the other. Then I remembered these photo flips! Problem solved! There are two ways to get them that I know of- one is from the newest Simple Stories releases. Another company that makes them is Close to My Heart ("Flip Flaps"). 
I wanted to use some of the Debutante sequins as confetti in my pocket. After scooping some inside the pocket I stitched the top closed to prevent them from falling out if my book gets turned topsy turvy! (Which it does whenever the kids look at our scrapbooks.) 
I am crazy about the exclusive flair in this kit! Lacey designs our flair and she continues to amaze us! I can't wait for you to see the ones in the May kit also! (I know I know I shouldn't tease like that) 
I remember years ago (I can say that since I started scrapbooking in 1990) I would love to read tips in scrapbooking magazines about troubleshooting problems that scrapbookers face. Before digital photography was ubiquitous, we talked about things like how to deal with a not-so-great photo. And how to cover it up if you accidentally spill something on your page. Now ink and paint splats are welcome additions to a layout, and they even make stamps to look like coffee rings! But even with all of this creative license, there will always be new issues to troubleshoot. Have you solved a scrappy problem recently? We would love to hear about it! --xGia More news...
Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a special treat! An exclusive Q & A with Clique Kits' Designer in the Spotlight Amy Tangerine! Not only that, we have a Simple Stories Blog Share on April 9th, and more to come from our fabulous Students of the Month! Things are really taking off at Clique Kits. If you are not one of the lucky ones who got to subscribe before we sold out-do not fear! You can add your name to our wait list now and guarantee your subscription to start in just a few months! |
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