Hi friends, it's Theresa here! I've been thinking about the New Year lately, and with that comes the usual resolutions, setting goals, that kind of thing. I'm not a resolutions kind of person, but I do like to create art as mediation, and today I've created an art collage piece to think about the kind of energy I want to bring into this New Year! Come create with me, using the Alchemy Kit, you can follow along with my process below.

Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you've been inspired to think about your creative life going into the New Year. Sadly the Alchemy kit is sold out, but there is a new kit available on pre-order that would give a similar look and feel:
Ice and Fire Kit Pre-order
The stamp set is available here:
Empowered Women Stamp Set
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Hi friends! Dana here today sharing a clock that I created using products from two amazing kits, the new Lady Whistledown Base Kit featuring the Prima Marketing Painted Floral collection, and the It's Easy Being Green Add-on Kit. It has been some time since I created a piece to hang in my art space. I sometimes lose track of time when I'm creating, so this clock will help keep me conscious of the passing hours. I used the solid circle base from the P13 There is No Planet B Chipboard Embellishment Set 4 and Painted Floral Rub-ons to create this project. I really love the hand-painted look!

The rub-ons are easy to cut and layer to create a custom design. They adhere beautifully to raw chipboard. I added adhesive rhinestones from the kit to some of the flower centers for a dimensional accent that sparkles when it catches the light.
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I also added a small bee charm to the clock face. Once I finished applying the floral rub-ons and embellishments to the chipboard, I added the clock hands and motor, which I picked up from Amazon for about four dollars.

​If you haven't visited the store recently, the stunning Lady Whistledown Kit is just one of the fantastic new kits available. Click here to check out what's new in the Clique International Store!

Clique International Supplies:
​Lady Whistledown Base Kit
It's Easy Being Green Add-on Kit

Hi friends! Dana here today sharing a scrapbook layout that I created with the last of my Prima Marketing Nature Lover Kit. I was down to a handful of patterned paper scraps and some embellishments. The only full sheet of patterned paper I had was the black and gold foiled paper. This paper is absolutely gorgeous, but black backgrounds are not in my design wheelhouse. To help tone down the dark paper, I placed the Heidi Swapp Carefree Specialty Paper over top. 
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I brought in more gold both under the photo with matting, and on top with a gold glittered heart.
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The Swiss Dot Rayon Seam Binding added some whimsy to my design and also helped to cover the seam of the pieced together pieces of striped patterned paper.

Clique International Supplies:
Prima Marketing Nature Lover Sampler Kit
Heidi Swapp Carefree Specialty Paper
Map of the Forest Limited Edition Kit
Swiss Dot Rayon Seam Binding

With some of my leftover embellishments from the Prima Marketing Nature Lover Sampler Kit and the NEW 49 and Market Map of the Forest Limited Edition Kit, I was able to complete a couple more pages in my Field Notebook.
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The rub-ons and chipboard embellishments from this kit were just perfect to document my hike through a nearby forest. The rub-ons are thick enough to easily apply over photos and die-cut embellishments. If you're looking to stretch the life of the kits in your stash be sure to visit the New In and Bestsellers Section of the Clique Shop.

Clique International Supplies:
Prima Marketing Nature Lover Sampler Kit
Studio Forty Traveler's Notebook Insert
Crate Paper Postmarked 12x12 Patterned Paper
49 and Market Map of the Forest Limited Edition Kit
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Hello crafty friends! Rita here again with a new project. This time I was in the mood to make a chunky mini album about our recent day trip to St. Gallen. And the best thing (apart from documenting this day and printing out all the photos!) is: I got to use up (almost) all my Clique International stash (to make room for more!) lol Brace yourselves! There are more than 15 photos waiting for you, so here we go...

St. Gallen, founded in the 7th century, is a swiss city and represents the center of the eastern Switzerland. It's not far from Lake Constance (and the german border), so we made a short trip to visit this cute city. The main tourist attraction is the Abbey of Saint Gall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I also loved to see all the old (timber-framed) houses. So pretty! It was nice to roam the streets and enjoy the atmosphere. 

On this day there were so many beautiful wildflowers everywhere, so I probably made more photos than I should. I used leftover patterned paper, stickers and stamps (all from the Clique International shop!) and I will link all the available products down below. 

I included some pockets here and there for leftover photos. Here I used the journaling pockets from Pinkfresh Studio. They have the perfect size for such an album. The size of this album is 4,25x6 inch by the way. The patterned papers I had were from differend companies, but I tried to match them as good as I could by color or pattern. 

 St. Gallen was also full of flowers, my soft spot, so of course I had to make even more flower photos. And the "from where I stand" photo is a must. lol I love how the two papers compliment each other (Altenew on the left, Pinkfresh Studio on the righ). Some of the papers I used were from a 6x6 inch paper pad, so the back was blank. Sometimes I glued two of them together and used the space between them as a pocket for journaling card or more photos. 

I added another Pinkfresh Studio journaling pocket on the left. The delicate flowers on the right are designed by Alexandra Renke. And where there are flowers, there are butterflies. So of course I had to add some butterfly stickers too. 

Here I stitched the butterflies to the page. Such a cute little detail! I added two of them on the next page and made a flip page, so I could incorporate more photos. You can find the butterflies in the Sequin and Shaker Mix "Santa Fe" in the shop. 

Stamps can transform a white background into a cool pattern. Here I used the stamp set by Heidi Swapp which is included in the Storyline Chapters Album Bundle. Next, more flowers! lol 

Here I used the stencil from the Mesa Add-on Kit and love how the structure paste adds a little dimension and a cool effect to the page. 

I hope you enjoyed to take a look into my eclectic mini album and feel inspired to stashbust and make your own. Last but not least I want to link all the (still available) products I used. Thanks for stopping by today and happy crafting!

Similar butterflies and perfect to document your spring/summer photos: Dublin Base Kit / Rosie's Studio
Embellishments and rainbow stencil: Mesa Add-on Kit 
​Heidi Swapp Stamp: Album Bundle
Patterned Papers: Altenew Enjoy the Ride Kit 
Pinkfresh Studio Let's Stay Home Paper Pad
Paper Inky Metropolis Paper Pack 
Prima Marketing Golden Desert Artist Mix
Journaling Cards: Pinkfresh Stuidio Let's Stay Home Sampler Kit 
Alpha stickers: Pinkfresh Studio Let's Stay Home Add-on Kit 

Hi crafty friends and happy Friday! Rita here today with a new project using the beautiful Sedona Kit which is available in the Clique International Shop right now. The Kit contains e.g. all 6 beautiful 12x12 double sided cardstocks from Prima Marketing's new Golden Desert collection- many with gorgeous copper foil accents. And of course both of the ephemera packs. You really have to check out this beautifully curated Kit! It's so pretty! - My project was inspired by a picture I saw on Pinterest. I not only fell in love with the colors but also with the overall look. I really love vision boards and the "My Peaceful Place" paper from the Golden Desert reminded me also of one, so I kind of went with this idea without overthinking it too much. 

I especially love the Ephemera packs in the Sedona Kit and when I saw them I instantly wanted to use them together. I chose similar colored pieces and arranged them on my pages. I was surprised how quick and easy it all came together. I just went with the flow and made sure to like the end result. I also included a quote I found on Pinterest I liked and some stamping and journaling. 

Here's the left page. I used the Storyline Chapters Notebook by Heidi Swapp which you can find in the Clique International Shop as well. This year I wanted to work mostly in this format and I really love it so far. It has enough space to include papers and embellishments (the size is 8x10" btw), and it's also handy and not too big for me. So I'm really happy with it! :-) 

Aren't these ephemera pieces just gorgeous? I really love the Boho-vibes. So pretty! And perfect not only for layouts but journals and notebook spreads, as you can see.

Here's the right page. I included a piece of patterned paper from the same kit. The pattern reminds me of a morrocan berber rug - also very boho-like! I love it! 

I'm really happy how this spread turned out. It's really one of my faves for sure. The colors and die cuts are totally my cup of tea. I hope you feel inspired to make a vision board of your own. It's so much fun and you can include everything you want, because it's always super personal, reflecting your taste and thoughts. You can never go wrong, so give it a try! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Check out the beautiful products I used before they are sold out. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave them in the comments below. We always love to see your work and get in touch with you in our FB group "The Clique", so join us if you haven't already! Happy weekend and happy crafting! 

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, CK friends! This is a bittersweet post since I'll be sharing my last layout for the Clique Kits design team. It has been a very wonderful creative journey and am so thankful to the CK leaders esp Gia for giving me this amazing opportunity. I'm gonna miss my fellow team members as well but I know for sure we're still gonna see each other around the scrapbooking world. 

​I used the June kit "Sweet Tea" main and junior kits for my project today and once again did my fave technique, fussy cutting.

I cut two strips of papers from the Main kit and placed it horizontally on the white cardstock background. I made tears to the edges of the bottom layer and lifted the edges of the paper on the top. Then I placed the two fussy cut flowers with leaves from the 6 x 6 paper pad and adhered the photos in the middle of the two. 

From there, I started to embellish with flowers and stickers. I used one of the chipboard phrases as the title. 

I love how this layout turned out because it's full of the things I love in a project. There's fussy cutting , layers and clusters of embellishments and interesting bits and pieces of details.

I hope you all like my layout as much as I do. This may be my last project to share here on the CK blog but I will still continue to create and inspire all of you. See you all around.

Happy crafting,