Stamptember challenges continue in The Clique group on Facebook and I created a couple of projects to demonstrate using a stamped resist technique with heat embossing and mixed media . I started my background by using a Ranger embossing ink pad with the stamp "Take the scenic route" and sprinkled clear embossing powder over the stamped image, tapping the excess powder off onto a piece of paper. I used my heat tool to cure the embossing powder and let it cool to set it completely. Then I used some distress inks diluted with water in pink, yellow, and aqua  with a flat watercolor brush to wash color over the stamped and embossed words! I used up the diluted ink by sprinkling drops over the rest of the page.
​

Next, I pulled out the Floral Frame Dies Bundle (Pinkfresh Studios) and the More Stamptember Kit with Flora & Fauna stamps and dies. The Paige Evans paper that consists of 2x2 squares of different patterns in the Go the Scenic Route Sampler Kit was perfect to use with the square dies because they were exactly the right size for the square floral frame dies. I cut the paper into rows and was able to run 6 squares through at a time. I cut enough squares to create a grid design on my background and decided to add variety by using some of the negative pieces from the dies also. 

I cut the Flora And Fauna butterflies from white cardstock and glued them down only along the body so that the wings could be bent up slightly. Then I layered some ephemera from the collection with some negative scraps from die cutting behind my photo including a journaling spot to hand write the story behind the photo. The final embellishments were acrylics pieces and a rubber word from my stash.

​One of the reasons why I love the Pinkfresh Studio floral frame dies, besides the fact that they were designed by my friend graphic designer Inna Moreva, is because they are so versatile. And as a bonus, since Paige Evans usually has a 2x2 square grid paper in every collection, every time I use them with a different collection I can get a whole new look. This die set together with the sister set of circles  will be one I use over and over for both layouts and cards. 

After completing the layout I realized that I didn't really show the clear embossed stamping before the paint so I did a mini art journal page  also! In this photo you can see how I broke the blank pages by stamping around the pages and heat embossed the flowers I stamped with clear embossing powder.

Here I used the same wash technique with different shades of watercolor paint for my background. The embossed flower doodles really pop once the paint is dry. To complete the spread I used the "tweet" bird and branch stamp from the More Stamptember kit, some washi tape, and a rainbow sticker from Elle's Studio from an older kit. The Frida stamp is an art stamp by Tandi Art distributed by A.B. Studio from Poland.  You may have noticed that I am a big Frida fan and love having her around as a muse. I used the Catherine Pooler midnight ink pad to stamp her outline and then colored her with watercolor paints. I find this process so relaxing. I fussy cut her out and adhered her to the page with matte medium. Last I stamped the word "bloom" to finish the spread. I have several different art journals in different sizes on my desk all the time because they are the best way for me to "warm up" and play with my supplies and experiment with different techniques. 

I hope you are inspired to try some stamp-emboss-resist mixed media technique this week and share your work in The Clique for a chance to win a prize! Everyone who posts a project is entered to win and this month there are both a mood board challenge and 4 stamping challenges for a total of 4 different chances to win a $25 store credit! Feel free to invite friends also-- it is easy to join our private group and play along and no purchase is necessary. Just bring an interest in papercrafting (answer 3 simple questions) and  all are welcome. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Hi friends! Today I am sharing a 12 x 12 layout using the Bom Dia Sampler Kit featuring the newest collection from Polish brand Studio Forty.  I fell in love with this collection at first sight. To change it up from how I usually start a design- with a photo that is at most 4 x 6" but very often even smaller--I thought I would try a challenge to use a very large photo on this layout. I had this cute, totally candid shot of my youngest son and his cousins sitting on the beach while we were on vacation last month. I printed it in a large square shape about 8x8" and centered it on the yellow paper from the collection. 

I spent the better part of a Netflix & chill evening fussy cutting all of the adorable cameras from another one of the Bom Dia papers. My plan was to use the cameras to create a frame for the photo. To add interest, I adhered approximately every other one with foam tape to add some dimension.  I also used the Bom Dia chipboards from the sampler kit and adhered some of them to the bottom of the photo. One element of design that is sometimes more subtle is the balance of elements. Elements can be large or small in scale, and can also be "heavier" or "lighter" in visual weight. I felt the bottom portion of the page needed a little bit more "weight" in order for the lower half of the page to have as much weight as the upper half with my title in it.

My title was created using a stamp from my stash and blue pigment ink from Kesi-Art. I cut the stamped image out and adhered it at the top of my photo with foam tape so that it almost looked like it was part of the sky. 

I love the way this layout came out and it was so easy to create with just a scissor, adhesive, the Bom Dia sampler kit, and some stamps.  I hope you will try changing it up on your next layout and try working with a large photo as the focus of your page! 

In our family a lot of our life revolves around football this time of year. Our son Jesse really enjoys playing in a flag football league that is able to run year round in Hawaii. But since it is NFL season we also have family get togethers at our place for Sunday dinner and football watching. The greater the fan rivalry, the more fun we have-- especially when it is a good game! 

This layout probably breaks every rule about scrapbooking. It's a boy layout using pastel colors. It mixes and matches a number of different collections because I had scraps to use and even recycled some corrugated packaging to create my large football element. But do you know what? Rules are meant to be broken! I also used Haute Mess acrylic paint and some cut files that I believe were from The Cut Shoppe.

The background paper was from the Pinkfresh Studios Just a Little Lovely Sampler Kit (now sold out!) I backed my photo with a stack of layers of scraps-some papers from the Gaia kit and also some scraps of my own mixed media lying around my desk. Never throw away artwork you end up not using because it may make its way into another project. No paint or paper is ever wasted! 

Recycling corrugated cardboard is one of my absolute favorite textures to add to a layout. This hand cut football ties in the subject of the photo with the rest of the design. The photo, the title, and the cardboard football work together to tell the story even though the rest of the background is neutral and could be about anything.  The fussy cut butterflies to me evoke motion, and watching my son make a metamorphosis from a complete novice to a real athlete over the course of his 11th year. Again, don't be afraid to use symbolism that means something to you. These kinds of personal touches will make your work unique and add so much more meaning. Lose your fear of what other people will think and you will develop your creativity in a positive way! 

I used a hot glue gun just down the middle "body" to adhere my fussy cut vellum butterflies from the 1 Canoe 2 Willow collection to my page so that they are dimensional.  I only discovered too late that this vellum with gold foil and butterflies coordinates really well with both the Pinkfresh Studio Just a Little Lovely collection and the Gaia kit. Which reminds me that I wanted to remind you to pull out those specialty papers from past kits and collections you haven't used.  I still have many in my stash from past Clique Kits that I hoarded because I didn't want to "waste" them. This is another unspoken or unwritten rule we need to purge! If you use it up, you will still get to see it. Only instead of it hiding in your stash it will be in your album! Which is even better, right?

Here are some items available in the Clique Kits shop and on the Bad Girls Couture website  related to this project! I don't know who needs to hear this... but you are creative and your ideas are special! Go ahead and follow your heart in all you do!
-Hugs,
​Gia

This Altenew washi tape is new in the shop and I just had to use it right away on a layout! I love to combine bold black and white with any color for an eye catching layout. What you may not realize looking at this is how easy it is to create a layout like this with the Altenew wide washi tape roll, a cut file, and some patterned papers-especially some with elements made for fussy cutting!

The Paradise cut file from The Cut Shoppe was perfect for a sunset on the beach silhouette photo of our daughter and her fiance. The first thing I did was simply apply a strip of washi tape vertically down the page just off center by a tad bit.
​

I used the Miss Mamamint Give Me Color paper pack to back some of the open letters, including the acetate paper behind one of them. I left some of them empty to allow the bold stripes of the washi tape to show through.

I added some yellow and light orange paint to fussy cut butterflies and also splattered some of the same colors around the background before adhering everything down. I used a hot glue gun to attach the butterflies down the middle only so that the wings would be able to lift off the page adding more dimension.
​

Finishing touches were some of the ephemera die cut pieces in the Just a Little Lovely sampler kit featuring the  Pinkfresh Studios collection. 
-xGia

Available products in the Clique Kits shop:
​

This past weekend I had some time and got to do a thing! I got to create for a little while and let me tell you I really enjoyed myself even though it feels like it was totally chaotic and not the tranquil relaxing process I was going for. Actually, come to think of it chaotic probably represents my state of mind recently better than tranquil and relaxed...as they say art imitates life. 

I started with 3 colors of Bad Girls Couture Haute mess acrylic paints in Torrid, C-note, and Sweet Candy Kisses. I diluted each paint color with a little bit of acrylic gloss medium and water to make a good consistency for pouring and making a mess with. Using a palette knife I spread the blobs I poured out into an irregular circle shape. The haute mess paint usually has a chalky matte finish but I wanted this to dry with a little bit of a gloss and texture.  I added some glass bead gel and some black ink splatters and after I was happy with the colors and texture of the background I let it air dry overnight.

I had an idea for machine stitching with black thread in a spiral on my background and then doing some journaling along the spiral of the background. Of course when I went to look for my black thread I couldn't find any.  So I ran out to the fabric store for a spool. Of course when I got home and intended to thread a bobbin with the black thread- guess what I found in the cubby where I keep my extra bobbins- the black thread I already had of course. This is the kind of thing that happens to me more often than not. It happens when I am cooking too. 

I wrote out my journaling in white pen freestyle without planning it- just some thoughts I had about what was going on when we took this photo on our trip to New York last summer. It's funny because the topic I was writing about was how our trip started out really great and then eventually things spiraled out of control. So the spiraling stitching and journaling really expressed this quite well.

I matted my photo with some layers of the papers in the Kaisercraft Magenta kit and then embellished in 3 main clusters around the page. I used some of the floral ephemera in the kit for the clusters, along with some Rainbow Escape acrylic pieces that can be found in the shop. My title acrylic piece I had special ordered from Bramble Fox for the layouts I knew I would be doing about this trip. As a traveler I love that the Bramble Fox shop has acrylic pieces for different cities! 

Thanks for checking out this layout and don't forget the collaboration with Bad Girls Couture Bad Ass Art Journaling kit is available in the shop! This includes 4 media and 4 paint colors to get you started as well as the perfect art journal ! I love to paint my backgrounds whether its art journaling or scrapbooking. I hope this inspires you to try some painting too.

​-xGia

Happy Easter to those of you celebrating today! Happy Spring! I hope you are getting excited to receive your April kit which will start shipping in just a couple of days!  I also hope you enjoyed this week of getting to know the new design team! I know I did- and am still blown away with all of the talent we have on this team! I didn't count the exact number but I am pretty sure we have a majority of designers who admire Paige Evans and Maggie Holmes. Coincidentally, the designers featured in the March and April kits. 
​

Today I am sharing a layout using the main kit and travelers notebook kit together! I cut the hibiscus flower cluster from one of the Maggie Holmes Flourish 12 x 12 papers in the main kit. My title "Lovely" also comes from the ephemera pack in the main kit as does the exclusive "Life is beautiful" flair and some other pieces of ephemera. The washi tape and floral ephemera and leaf are from the Travelers Notebook kit, along with the pretty pink vintage music paper.
​

I hope you like this layout and are excited to use all of this Maggie Holmes goodness whether you are a main or TN subscriber.

In other Clique Kits news, we want to remind you of the international scrapbooking day event coming up in May and remind you that this weekend only to celebrate our anniversary we are offering a 40 % off coupon to pick up a limited edition kit of your choice. Use code 4YEARS when checking out with either the This is Us (physical) kit or the NSD kit in your cart!
​

Early April will be bringing these new products to the CK shop! Some of you may have seen that the latest Shimelle collection is in stock now! Grab it while it lasts! We are also expecting some fabulous travelers notebook products from Prima! Prima Marketing is not a brand that we have historically carried but we found some of these travelers notebook products irresistible! We have very limited quantities on the way so order as soon as you can!

I do apologize for enabling but our Valentine's Day and Spring/Easter seasonal products are still on clearance. It's a great time to stock up on some of the more unique finds you don't see everyday! In addition, I want to remind you that we announced during the April reveal that moving forward our Travelers Notebook kits will not include an exclusive insert anymore so that subscribers can choose their favorite insert brand, size, and type of paper. We also think its fun to change it up and fit even more great product in the kits. If you would like to pick up some inserts, however, you can find plenty of options here. Once again, have a wonderful Easter and thanks for stopping by!
​

Hi there, Gia here...totally getting in the holiday spirit this week!  I received my Clique into the Holidays 2017 kit and was instantly in love with the winter themed Sweater Weather collection in the kit.  I just had to go through my photos to find memories of past winters on the mainland that seem really distant now after living in Hawaii for 7 years. The little girl in this picture is my 4th of 7 children who is now a freshman in high school. Oh my how time flies. I do miss certain things about winter- like waking up to the first snow, fireplaces, and making hot cocoa with extra marshmallows for all of my babies after they come in from the cold with cute little moist, pink noses.

Here is a close up. I found this Christmas tree cut file by Jeana (Felicity Jane) in the Silhouette studio store.  Lately most of my layout backgrounds start with a sheet of white cardstock. This time I had a vision for this blue and white snowflake paper, and  I wanted to pick up the mood of the  bluish shadowy tones of a snowy day that you can see in the photo. I backed only a few of the trees in the cut file with the patterned papers in the kit, and also layered some ephemera around the layout. 

How cute is this little bluebird?  Back when this photo was taken, December Daily was not really a thing yet- so I don't have that kind of album going back that far. I am really glad I could incorporate an older photo into my use of this year's holiday kit to create a simple 12 x 12 layout with it. What have you been doing with your holiday kits this year?

It is Sunday Funday and I am really excited to be here on the blog to share some more layouts with the November kits. Recently I was invited to a fundraising crop for a local Christian school on Oahu and I got to spend almost 12 uninterrupted hours with some friends killing my November main kit! I often read social media posts by other friends preparing to leave for a crop and one of the biggest challenges is deciding how much of your scrap space do you "move in" to the area around your table at a crop.  As a member of the Clique it has been years since I have had that problem. Naturally, I always have some Clique Kits already packed and ready to go- with everything I need already there! All I have to do is pack my photos and  my basic tools and I'm off!  One of so many benefits of using kits, wouldn't you say? It was hard to choose whether to do a Geek Lab, Locker Room, or Art Studio post...so I thought why not just do all three. LOL

For this layout I used a title cut file as a focal point against the Maggie Holmes paper with the colorblock triangular design as a background. This design of patterned paper just calls out to be used as a background, in my opinion, because it already creates interest and moves your  eye around the page. Even though the layout is quite simple, I was pleased with how it came together.

Next I have an 8 1/2 x 11 layout- and wanted to point out that even some partially "themed" kits, like the November kit with some of the fall and gratitude themes are not at all limited in how they can be used. Living in a season-less climate it is even more important to me that I do not get pigeon-holed by supplies that are intended for a specific holiday, season (with subsequent weather), or topic. 

For this layout I wanted to use one of my add ons from the Clique Kits monthly releases in the shop. I started with a couple of stencils-the Crazy Blessed one was an add on from a November kit about 2 or 3 years ago from Jillibean Soup,  and some textural media, which I then painted on with this Prima watercolor paint. The photo and background did not really need a lot of embellishment, so I focused on adding some stamped journaling and some snips of a pineapple washi tape from my stash. One of the yellow patterned papers in this months Traveler Notebook kit was perfect peeking from behind my photo adding a subtle tie in of the yellow pineapple float in the photo.

Monochromatic layouts in my opinion are usually soft and pretty, but the hard thing is they risk being boring if one is not careful.  The key is adding texture, and using dimensional elements in clusters.

Step 1. Look for simple monochromatic patterns like this simple black and white wavy line paper and combine with other monochromatic elements to give the composition unity- such as the foam thickers word I used as a title. 

Step 2.  Use dimensional paint like Shimmerz to add some more layering and depth and stitching -either by hand or by machine to texturize even further.

Step 3. Multiply the impact of a monochromatic embellishment by going BIG with repeating the element. In this case instead of using 2 or 3 of the black and white Prima butterflies from the CK shop I decided to cover the whole side of the page with them.

​

Thanks for spending some time with me on this lovely Sunday. I hope that somewhere in my 3 in 1 post you found some helpful tips and inspiration!

Welcome to the November kickoff ! In just a few days the November kits will begin shipping out to subscribers all over the world! November is the month of gratitude here in the United States and the Thanksgiving holiday that we celebrate is shared in many ways wherever people gather together, share a special meal, and bond to count their blessings. November is the last hurrah of fall where autumn foliage, falling leaves, pumpkins, gourds, and corn are welcome  decorations before we transition to the Christmas season! The November kit will be perfect for documenting gratitude, creating Thanksgiving cards, gift tags, and even making pretty things for your home decor. At the same time, the colors are so pretty and versatile, the kits are going to work for any subject at all.  Don't forget to share your creations on social media and please tag us: #CKNovember2017  #CKCornucopia  #CKCornucopiaKit #CKTravelersnotebookkit #Cliquekits #Click_connect_create 

If you are a subscriber don't forget to download the digital products that are FREE with your kit. This is a tremendous perk of being a Clique Kits subscriber. Our digital products really round out the kits and showcase collaborations between the members of our whole creative team. Stay tuned for my post later this month when I will be showing how I used this fall title on a layout!  And now, here is a fun mixed media layout of my 14 year old daughter Scarlet. 

In addition to fussy cutting the black and white floral paper and layering some of the Girl Squad ephemera and pretty papers, I added some Prima watercolors and stamped around some butterfly stencils using black ink from the shop. You will find that whenever art supplies and media are added to the Clique Kits shop they will coordinate with the kits that month making it really easy to simplify your shopping! 

Today is Halloween and I am sharing my October workshop project with you! If you and your family celebrate this holiday, I hope you are out trick or treating and having a blast. Be safe! Some people of course cannot celebrate due to religious beliefs or other reasons, and we respect all of our friends and followers-so if it is just another day for you you might still feel inspired by the parts of this project that focus on fall activities (just ignore my devil horns in photo 6- haha)

I had a lot of fun creating my October bucket list and I hope the workshop was fun for everyone who participated!  Clique Kits online workshops remain accessible for 1 year after purchase. There are Halloween products in the shop that you can find here,  some of which were used in this project! Here are some of my favorites!  Have a wonderful day!