Hi Everyone! Thank you for stopping in for another fun blog post! Today I will be sharing a sketch challenge, with a slight twist. Instead of using the sketch to design a scrapbook page, I used it to create a dashboard for my B6 (5" x 7") traveler's notebook. I used the April kit, Winter Park, featuring "Flourish" by Maggie Holmes.

This sketch featured a circular center focal point butThis sketch featured a circular center focal point but I changed it up a bit and used a label from the exclusive cut apart sheet found in the kit.

I finished the page with a of picture of my daughter and myself. I also used a few stickers from the Winter Park kit. I wanted to use these specific stickers because I really liked how the yellow of the flower and rose gold foiling popped from the page.

I hope you all enjoyed and this inspired you to have extra fun with your kits - you can even use them to personalize your planners!

​Up and down I cut a piece of Paper MAGGIE HOLMES FLOURISH DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12"X12" - ROYAL and sewed it tight. As  good as it went, my sewing machine hates me :-)

​Hello friends! Ksenia here with a new scrapbook layout using the April "Winter Park" Kit featuring the beautiful Flourish collection by Maggie Holmes. 

​I also used one of the exclusive cut files designed by talented Maryam Perez.

​At first I traced the contour of wreath and butterflies. Then, along the contour, the wreath made an engine stitch. Butterflies and a wreath painted watercolor and carved.

​It may seem strange, but it was my first experience with one collection. Usually I mix 2-3 different collections. I really liked this experience.

Hello Clique friends! 
​
Today I have used the April Clique Kits sketch to create this layout. I have seen some beautiful takes on this sketch so far in The Clique group! This is my 5th project using the gorgeous Winter Park Kit and I still have enough to create more!

So here is my take!

I firstly cut the April exclusive wreath cut file from Clique Kits. I cut one from the Greenhouse paper (yellow side ) and then I cut another from the Nostalgic paper (green side). I hand cut the leaf branches and attached over the yellow and this is how I achieved the yellow roses and green leaves. I then used my sewing machine to add some stitching around the wreath.

I used the cardstock sticker 'Smile' to create my title and an embellishment feature. I added a sub title by using a smaller sticker and finished off tucking under a floral spray sticker. I am a big fan of using foam tape to add depth/3D effect on my pages.

I had chosen my photo before I started this layout, my oldest and youngest who share a close bond. I attached my photo keeping to the sketch. Then for the fun, going through all the embellishments of this kit and placing them keeping the sketch in mind. The vellum bird had to be used and the oh so cute flair! I added some machine stitching to the die cut house (I cut the yellow house from the die cut of three houses in a row).
I finished my layout off with relevant word stickers, some roses and pretty butterflies and yes I couldn't resist a splatter of black color shine.

I am so glad I finally found the right product to scrap this special photo! I do love a sketch and this one was no different. 

​Thank you so much for stopping by today and here is a recap of what I have created with my April Winter Park Kit. I will see you next month creating with the oh so beautiful RIGA Kit.

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having an absolutely fabulous day wherever you are in the world! Today I have a layout I created using a Clique Kits sketch from a few months ago. I never got a chance to use it but when I saw that the May Riga kits had a lot of circular elements in it, I just knew I needed to use this sketch for my layout this week.

I ended up following this sketch pretty closely although I did rotate the circle section so that they were on the top half of my page rather than on the left hand side and I also made the circles cover more of the page. And although I stuck fairly closely to the sketch, remember that sketches are only for inspiration and to spark creativity. If you want to alter a sketch or go in a completely different direction, that is ok! Creativity has no limits and if you get a layout you love, then the purpose of the sketch has been fulfilled whether you followed it to a T or not!

To start my layout, I used one of the newer stamps in the shop from Prima called Messy. It is a gorgeous script font and is a steal at only $2! I created a circle stencil in a few different sizes with some leftover card stock pieces to stamp the font in a circle shape. I also machine stitched some wonky circles with black thread before layering circles of patterned paper I cut from the 6x6 papers in the TN kit. I then had a lot of fun splattering some slightly watered down black Dylusions Paint all over the page.

To make sure that the layout had some interest and dimension, I popped several of the patterned paper circles up with craft foam as well as my picture. This really made the layout come alive!

I then added a bunch of the circle embellishments (card stock stickers, leatherette stickers, ephemera)  included in the TN kit and some of the exclusive add-on flair to the layout and popped up may of them on craft foam as well. My finishing touch was to sprinkle some of the puffy star stickers from The Mix Vol. 2 that are an add-on in the shop.

I hope you all enjoyed this layout. I had a blast making it and love the end result. For more details on how I made the layout, feel free to check out my process video here.

Have a fantastic day and I'll see everyone next week for a new mixed media layout!

Hello! 

It's Heather Doolittle here with you to bring you another post using this month's sketch! 

I LOVE using sketches. I remember back in the day when I participated in SO many sketch challenges. I loved using sketches. I still love sketches. Today I'm sharing a layout that I made using the awesome sketch for this month.  It is so fun to see where a sketch leads you in creating a project! 

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it! 
​

I wanted to do something unique for that circle of elements. I decided to fussy cut lots of cameras from the Calliope paper from the Winter Park kit and layer them in a big circle. I love how big and bold the cameras are! After I placed the fussy cut shapes into a circle, I added a few stickers here and there and then I machine stitched around the circle a couple of times. I finished off the page with some more stickers from the sticker accent sheet that is included in this month's kit, some mist splatters, and my journaling and title! 

Oh! And one more thing! I cut out those little vellum butterflies from a diecut in the ephemera pack. I didn't think I would use the diecut how it was designed, so I just cut out all of the butterflies and used them as embellishments! I love the texture that the vellum gives to the page. Don't be afraid to use an embellishment in a way different than it is intended to be used! 

Thanks for joining me today! 

I used several different ways to mark the special occasion, one of which was using the rose gold foiled Thickers from the kit. We were calling her “toothless” all day, and I wanted to include that, but also to notate that it was the first tooth lost, I broke it up to also say, “1 tooth {less}” kind of a play on the words.

Journaling was a must, though, as I wanted her to remember everything leading up to the day that her tooth came out. I used the same size paper cut outs, in the same staggered pattern as in the photo frame, so as to tie the two look is together.

I used the cardstock stickers, also from the “Flourish” line included in the kit, to layer another title under her photo. The ‘SMILE’ sticker was definitely fitting for the photo and I felt that it was a great contrast to the black and white photo. Then, I cut one of the ephemera pieces, that was initially ticket tag, to subtly mark the day of the week.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you were able to get some inspiration for telling your special stories using the ‘Winter Park’ kit!

Hello everyone! 
Today I would like to show you a layout in the size DIN A 4 (21 x 29 cm).
​I've already tried 12 x 12 layouts, but I've never made friends with it. I used a lot of products from the cut-apart sheet included in the kit.  

​​And then I cut 2 strips of this beautiful paper and glued it to the sides of my cardstock. I also cut these flowers out of the patterned paper and used some Stickers . For the butterflies I used a hand punch and the CRATE PAPER - MAGGIE HOLMES FLOURISH ACETATE 12 "X12" - FLORIBUNA sheet. 

​I added some pink sequins and  yellow Nuvo Drops.
And voilà finished :-) 

Hello everyone! TGIF am I right?!?! Today I'm kicking off the weekend sharing a layout using the April TN kit and an exclusive Clique Kits cut file! The cut file is from the April 2017 kits called Floral which can be accessed in the shop. The cut file actually has 3 flowers attached to each other but I only wanted one so I used the Cricut design software to erase two of them. 

I wanted to mention right off the bat that this layout was made exclusively with the TN kit except for the black pattern paper I matted the layout with but this could easily be replaced with a black patterned paper from your stash. The TN kit is a lower price point than the main kit so I wanted to show that you can easily make 12x12 layouts using the TN kit so it is an excellent choice if your want a monthly subscription but are on a budget!

​My inspiration for this layout came from an Inkie Quill art journal spread she did a few weeks ago where she tore pieces of tissue paper and applied them to her journal similar to how one would do paper mâché. I thought this would be a great way to utilize a cut file in a unique way as I tend to either back them with patterned paper or use as is on my layout. Of course both of those techniques are wonderful, but I was feeling adventurous this week!

I started by tracing the shape of each petal to a piece of smooth white card stock but only the shape of the main petal, not all of the individual lines. I then used the 6x6 papers from the TN kit as well as the music note paper and washi tapes to tear my pieces of paper. I utilized Ranger Multi Matte Medium and a paint brush to spread some of the medium on the page to act as a glue, stuck my torn papers down, and then used the medium on top to seal all of the pieces back together to create the look of it being one single sheet of paper. 

Next, I cut each of the petals out and used the cut file to glue each petal back into the flower shape on another piece of card stock at which point I added one last coat of medium to seal everything in. To give each petal more definition, I used black thread to do a simple back stitch around each petal. I just couldn't do a layout without some hand stitching!

I then used some Cotton Candy mist from Shimmerz and some Distress Oxides to add some color to a piece of white card stock before trimming .5 inches off two sides of my paper and machine stitching around the page with some white thread. Between the thread and some distressing I did with my scissors, this created some nice texture. But I wasn't finished! I felt there needed to be a boarder around the card stock so I used one of the black patterned papers from the main kit to frame the layout. 

The ephemera pack that came in the TN kit is full of beautiful floral pieces and I used all of the leaves to add to the base of my flower as well as some fussy cut black foliage from one of the 6x6 papers.

Next came time to add my pictures. The April kits are perfect for documenting all my pictures of florals so I printed out seven pictures, all 1.5"x1.5", and stacked them on the right side of my layout to balance out the layout from the large floral on the other side. 

Lastly, I wanted to create a scene with the layout so I popped up a butterfly that came in the ephemera from the TN kit to mimic a butterfly flying in to land on the flower I created. And I think I managed to achieve that in the layout! Here is the finished product.

For even more details on how I created the flower using a cut file and completed my layout, check out my process video. In it I also show ideas on how to use a single cut file 5 different ways!

Be sure to check back on the blog daily for all sorts of great inspiration. I'll have another layout up next week using a sketch and the newly revealed May kits which I can't wait to share. See you next week!