Hi friends! Dana here today sharing how I used glass bead gel and acrylic paint to create glittery backgrounds for a pair of artist trading cards. The tiny glass spheres in the gel create an amazing luminosity when exposed to light and a wonderful texture that you can both see and feel. I upped the sparkle factor by first applying metallic and glitter acrylic paint to the base of my artist trading cards. The shimmer on these cards is fantastic! This mixed media background is easy to create in a few simple steps. Let's get started!
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Artist trading cards are a great size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) to try out new mediums and techniques without using a lot of materials. I cut all of my trading cards from empty cereal boxes. To help prevent the more expensive mediums from soaking into the card base, apply a couple of light layers of gesso to the card and let dry. Gesso is also important when using cardboard because without the bright white base, colors that are applied on top will be dull and less vibrant.
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Next, apply acrylic paint over the gessoed card and let dry. I applied a metallic gold paint first, and then an ultra fine glitter paint top coat for extra shimmer.
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Finally, use a spatula to spread a thin layer of glass bead gel over the card. The gel is white when wet and dries clear. While the gel is wet, press several plastic stars, or other embellishments, into the medium. There are a lot of super fun sequin mixes in the Clique Shop that are perfect for adding a touch of flair to your projects.  Set aside the card for a couple of hours to dry.
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Apply Bella Blvd acrylic shapes to the card using double-sided tape and adhesive dots.
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Finish the card with a colorful word sticker. This Pretty Little Studio Sticker Sheet is included in the Color Me Happy Clique Sampler Kit.
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I hope I have inspired you to try incorporating glass bead gel into your art! Thanks for stopping by today!
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Good morning! I'm back with a simple 8"x4" spread I created using the Over the Rainbow Kit. This kit has sold out but you can still buy the extra paper pack here. I just started scrapbooking in this size to mix things up. Sometimes, I have one photo and story that I want to scrapbook and rather then use an entire 8 1/2x11" paper and embellishments, I decided to scrap these memories in a Traveler's Notebook instead. ​

​Personally, I love this size. I get layouts completed in a snap when scrapbooking in this size. If you are busy, but still need to fit in your craft time, try this size! The shop has new albums and inserts in stock now.

To begin, I cut the patterned paper to measure 8"x4". Then I cut the square journaling cards from the patterned paper and placed them to the center of the layout, down the page. I used a 2" circle punch to punch the circle to center it inside the journaling card that already had a circle border. I used a few foam squares to pop the photo up. ​

I punched a butterfly out of patterned paper using my butterfly punch that I forgot I had in my stash. I just needed a butterfly and since I did not have a butterfly die cut, I used my punch. You can use stamps too! Simply stamp your butterfly on a piece of patterned paper and fussy cut it out of the paper using sharp scissors.

​I completed the layout with a few die cuts and journaling at the bottom. What do you think? Super quick and easy! Thank you for stopping by today!

Hello crafty friends! Today I have a new project to share with you. Maybe we're not able to travel right now, but I bet everyone has some travel photos lying around that need a new home in an album. It feels like I have tons of them. On my very long to-do list was making an album about my weekend trip to Rome in August 2014 with my hubby. Back then I wasn't the scrapbooker I am today. These days I never leave without at least a Travelers Notebook. On this trip I just had my camera, a guide and I collected some memorabilia. Fortunately I have some very cool products from Clique Kits which helped making this album come together. Let's start with the front pages. 

Maybe you recognize the collection "Color me happy" by Pretty Little Studio. I love the bright and vibrant colors and the bold design. I combined the elements from this collection with the Little Black Dress Kit with it's black and white papers, stickers and ephemera. I love how the colors pop even more with some black and white in addition. Unfortunately the Add-on kit I used is already sold out, but the Sampler Kit is still available here. And it's just as fun! 

First I included a 3x8'' pocket page to write some basic background information about this trip. I used the Documented Stamp Set by Studio Forty which is on sale in the shop right now. The quality of the stamp is awesome and it's perfect to create custom cards or journaling spots. I stamped the dates of our trip on the week days die-cuts from the Black Little Dress Kit (they are also by Pretty Little Studio) and wrote some more journaling on the back of the page. 

Let's move further to the "main" front page. This is the first layout I made for this album and the one I'm most happy about. And the best thing: you can get the Cut File for free here. After cutting it I altered it a little bit, I cut out the inside of the globe and put my photo underneath. It's a photo I made while flying over Switzerland, can you spot the Alpes​? The background paper and stickers are from the Little Black Dress Kit. I love the thickness of the paper. I could easily put some acrylic paint on it. 

It was so much fun to create the first layout in this size, so I made another one. I combined two papers from the Little Black Dress Kit and mixed them with some leftover die cuts from the Paige Evans Bloom Street collection. Here I used the first photos I made on this trip, the first train station in the centre of Rome (after taking the train from the airport) and the graffiti on the Subway walls and trains. 

Another fun thing I added: a little waterfall flip book insert. Again I used the papers and stickers from the Black Little Dress Kit and made some flips for all the photos from our visit to Villa Borghese. It was just one of the many stations on our trip and I like that it has it's own little mini album. The glassine bag on the right was just a little add-on to the album. Instead of throwing it away, I put a die cut on top (this one is also from the Black Little Dress Kit), a 4x6'' card from the Color Me Happy collection and used it for leftover photos and notes. I hope you are in the mood to create some fun travel albums yourself now. For more inspiration you can visit me on Instagram.  Thanks for stopping by today! 

Exploring techniques outside our comfort zone is one way we can try new things and learn to be better at our craft. For many people trying something messy is one example of this creative growth  process but for me I almost always start a layout with a paintbrush. So for me, it was a challenge to try to use this beautiful mandala cut file in the shop since iNSD 2018 ! I used to avoid intricate cut files because I had a hard time choosing the right settings and got frustrated easily by having the file tear in parts while weeding it. But I always wanted to be be able to succeed someday. That's why I chose this topic for today's post. In a layout like this all of the work goes into the cut file and backing it and then the rest of the embellishment is actually very simple. I fussy cut a few flowers and use some of the painted wood veneers in the kit. My paintbrush only made an appearance once to  splatter a little bit of color around the edges of the page. I had fun playing with some of the sparkly tulle trim in the kit to make a little ruffle under my photo

For starters, there have been tremendous improvements in the technology of new electronic die cutting machines. About a year ago I decided to finally toss my original first edition Silhouette Cameo which was no longer working and I bought a Brother Scan N Cut machine. It already is not the newest model, but it is still an amazing machine. I am very happy that I decided to do my own research and figure out a machine that would be best for me and not just do what everyone else is doing just because.  I actually have no opinion on the newer Silhouette models I have not tried but I am sure they are equally wonderful as are the Cricut machines.

I wanted to show these photos really close up in order to show you the mistakes I made during the process of backing the die cut. I used the process of tracing the shape of the negative spaces I wanted to fill on the back side of the paper I wanted to have show through,and then cutting it out and adhering it with glue squeezed through a fine point bottle.  But I changed  my mind about the side of the paper I ended up using and was stuck being able to see my pencil tracing lines! I had to go back and erase them and it did not turn out perfect in the end.  But as they say, mistakes are only lessons and we do not learn unless we make them!

Some of the other lessons  I learned in this process are to make sure that the blade is able to cut all the way through properly and also make sure that the cutting mat is sticky enough so the paper does not shift during a long cut. This one took my machine 20 minutes to cut! But you do not want the mat to be too sticky or it makes it more likely to tear when weeding it. My mat was not very sticky so I actually used washi tape to hold my paper in place. I also used the American Crafts precision cardstock  in the shop. It is more expensive than regular cardstock but for cuts like these (which I make infrequently) it is worth the investment! I only had to cut once! There was a time when it might take me half a dozen cuts to get it right.

I hope you enjoyed learning about my journey outside my comfort zone today as much as I enjoyed the process of finally using this gorgeous cut file designed by Lacey Gasper. You can find more of Lacey's cut files in her Etsy store Lacey Ann Designs!

 Hello scrappy friends! Nicole here and today I'm sharing a layout that was inspired by an element in the Over the Rainbow kit.  There is a tag in the kit that had all these colorful rainbows, clouds and water drops. That was my inspiration to create a larger background version on today's layout.

Lastly, I added my title that I created using the semi transparent stickers in the kit and added my journaling!

I actually have a process video to share with you all today! Be sure to click below to see how I created this layout, including the painting of this background!

Hello there, Giorgia here today to share my first project as Design Team here in the blog.
I made a layout completely out of my comfort zone: if you saw my previous projects as Guest Designer and on Clique International Facebook group, The Clique, you may have noticed I love to mix and match patterned papers and colors... well, for today's post I made a monochromatic mixed media layout!
I think that sometimes is funny to step out your comfort zone and try new techniques, new color palettes, new products...
For the layout I used both the International series kits representing Italy, my country: My Brilliant Friend main kit and ​Lila & Elena Embellishments add-on kit.
Let me tell you I love these kits so much: they features Italian brand Creative Studio and they are full of beautiful papers and embellishments to use in a big variety of projects!

I love so much taking selfies with my little daughter Isabella and I could scrap our pictures every day! 
To create the page I fussy cut the big flowers and other elements from a page in the Italian main kit (I love so much fussy cutting, it relaxes me a lot!)
Since this paper is all in the blue tones I decided to go with a monochromatic blue page!
I created the background with texture paste and a stencil and I added watercolors here and there.
I created white and blue splatters by letting drop color from a brush.
As last step I stamped some phrases in different blue tones (here in the shop you can find tone on tone ink pads to help you doing this).

I matted the picture with glitter papers and embellished with acrylic pieces from the add on kit (I am in love those little hearts!). I also added puffy stickers from My Favorite Story: Sequel add-on kit.

Hello, Rachel here and I am so excited to be back as part of the Clique family! Along with memory keeping through scrapbooking I now have a passion for creating meaningful paper craft gifts and decor. Today I have created a handmade banner as a gift for my mother's study/reading room in her new home. I have used Pebbles Inc Hey Hello collection available in the cliquekits.com shop.

I am sure you have noticed that Rainbows are very on trend currently, I think it is because they represent hope and in these challenging times we all need hope! I decided to make the rainbow the feature of my banner. I have used a cut file to create my rainbow. I have kept to the rule of thirds, using three different colours/patterns, I then added to the banner with foam tape to create a 3D effect.

As this is going to be a decor piece, to draw one's eye to it I added some gorgeous felt wool pom-poms in co ordinating colours. As I added the rainbow pieces with foam tape it has allowed me to added floral die cuts under.

I didn't want it just to look pretty I wanted it to be meaningful and so chose a theme of friendship adding a lovely quote and super cute hedgehog holding a floral bunch.

I love to add machine stitching to my creations and this was no exception. I added stitching around both edges of the two border pieces and also the tabs. To pretty up the tabs I added a border strip to the centre of each. The wonderful thing about banners the possibilities are endless, with shapes and sizes.

I think this will look beautiful in my mothers study/reading room, simple but classic with a heartfelt sentiment.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope I have inspired you to look beyond a scrapbook layout and create other forms of beautiful, meaningful paper crafts.

Good morning everyone. Nicole here with a super fun mixed media layout I created. 

A few weeks ago, I saw this beautiful layout created by Anett Gelencser  and loved how colorful and vibrant the  layout is.  I am a sucker for circles! She used the Noteworthy collection from Pinkfresh Studio which was the main  collection in the Skies of Blue kit.  The kit is sold out but the paper is available here. 

Before I show you how I created the background of my layout, let me share the layout with you! Here is my take on Anett's layout. As you can see, I lifted certain elements from her layout. I did not copy the layout exactly how she created hers. 

For this layout, I am using the Rainbow Connection Kit and the Rainbow Connection Add-on kit, featuring Vicki Boutin's texture paste. To begin, I cut the patterned paper to measure 8 1/2x11" and a piece of white cardstock to measure 8"x10 1/2". I mounted the white cardstock to the center of the patterned paper. Then, I punched several 2" circles from white cardstock and placed them onto the cardstock, adhering them with glue.

I applied a thick layer of white gesso all over the base. It's OK if the circles start popping up at the edges... let them pop up to give the layout more texture and dimension!

Next, I added a tiny bit of the paste and mixed it with a water using a paint brush to water down the paste. For this layout, I wanted to see if I could get more of a watercolor effect from the paste. I love how Vicki's mixed media products can be used in a variety of ways! 

I used a piece of paper towel to lift the excess water from the circles. I splashed some yellow water color all over the back using the end of my brush. Then I tapped a few drops of yellow spray around the background. Once the circles were completely dry, I added my photo and embellishment along with some stamps for my title work and journaling!

I hope I inspired you today with my scrap lifted layout and showed you that you can do so much with mixed media products. I love working with mixed media products. They are fun to play with. Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

 Hi friends! Dana Tatar here today sharing an Easter themed shadow box that I altered using the gorgeous My Mind's Eye Gingham Gardens collection and a Foundations Décor Magnetic Shadow Box. I had a lot of fun creating this décor piece and reminiscing about a past Easter spent with my brother. Easter of 2016 was the last year that we were able to dress up our children in coordinating outfits, pre-teens and teens are much less cooperative, so this project is extra special for that reason in addition to the fun memories of a holiday spent with family.

Foundations Décor Magnetic Shadow Box Measurements
I like to plan décor projects in advance as they are a bit more involved. I thought it would be helpful to share the specific measurements of this tray and the compartments, as well as some assembly details, before going into the design specifics.

The outer measurement of the shadow box frame is 12.25 x 12.25 inches. A metal sheet is sandwiched between a top compartmentalized wood frame and a solid piece of wood. The metal layer holds the wood inserts with magnets that are applied by a simple peel and stick method to the back of the wood inserts. The wood inserts are easy to pop in and out of the frame. This feature allows one frame to be used all year long, swapping the inserts with the changing seasons. The frame is nearly 5/8 inches thick, so after adding the wood inserts and the magnets, there is about a 1/4 inch of space to the top edge of the frame. This means there is plenty of room for thicker and/or layered embellishments!

Wood Insert Measurements (1/8 inch MDF, 6 Total)

• 2.5 x 11.25 inches (1)
• 4 x 3.25 inches (2)
• 4 x 5x5 inches (2)
• 4 x 4 inches (1)

Note: This shadow box can be altered in any orientation if you are designing with blank wood inserts and not a specific shadow box kit. Aligning the long rectangular compartment on the side of the box worked best for the photos I had.
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I added a photo of my daughters to the center of the box. The My Mind's Eye Gingham Gardens Ephemera Pack contains a great selection of die-cuts that were fun to layer on top of my pictures.

I created a layered title spot directly above the center square of the box using die-cuts from the Ephemera Pack and stickers from the Collection Kit. I used 3D foam adhesive squares to add dimension and separation to the words in the title.

I combined stickers and die-cuts to make small journaling spots. Once again, I used 3D Foam adhesive to help separate the embellishemnts from the base of each insert.

There are several different sizes of tags in the Ephemera Pack. Tags are an easy way to quickly add an additional pattern to a project. I topped the tag with a simple twine bow to add some texture.

I created a layered journaling spot next to the title. I trimmed away the white border on many of the die-cut ephemera pieces so I could layer them the way I wanted to fit inside the compartments.

Lastly, I tied a piece of ribbon around the frame. This ribbon serves two purposes. First, I like the rich dark green color and the contrasting texture. Second, and more importantly, I used this ribbon as the base for a large die-cut and sticker embellishment cluster. I wanted to decorate the top of the frame to add another layer of interest to this piece. The ribbon is able to easily slide off the frame, so when I change the wood inserts for a new holiday, I can also remove the embellishments that coordinate with this frame.

I hope I have inspired you today. I you have any questions about working with this magnetic shadow box, please leave me a note in the comments section and I'll be happy to answer.

If you're looking for a fun shadow box kit, there are a couple to choose from in the Clique Store:
Limited Edition Kit - Baby Shadow Box Bundle
​Limited Edition Kit - Spring Shadow Box Bundle