Aloha!! It's Hannah with you today. If your life is anything like mine, you have been really busy. In the thick of December, school projects, work parties, traffic jams and all that stress requires some special time in your scrap room. That is definitely how I have been coping with all the chaos of life. The busier things get the messier I like it on my pages. 
Today I am using both the Main Lemonade Kit and the Traveler's Notebook Lemonade Kit. These kits work together so well I couldn't help but put them together and get more layouts and projects out of them. Before I add all the pretty papers and all the cute embellishments layered on my layout I am gonna talk you through how I like to create my own background paper. 

I started off with my choice of smooth white card stock. I like the thickness of smooth card stock and how it holds up to the many different kinds of mixed media I like to use. This time I decided against using gesso. Gesso is a primer that you can use before adding any kind of liquid media. It helps less of the liquid soak into the background you are adding it too. If you add it to paper, it will help less of the liquid in the media will soak up into the paper and helping it not warp as much. It will make the media dry differently because it sits on top of the gesso and paper. 
I choose to not add gesso because I also find that sometimes the gesso itself will make the paper warp. In times when I think I won't be using a ton of media or media that is not really liquid, like acrylic paint I find it isn't as necessary. This is purely a personal choice and if you love to add mixed media to your projects playing around with gesso and without gesso is a must. This will help you figure out what your personal preference is especially with the brands and products you enjoy using.
For this layout I am using mainly acrylic paint and some glitter liquid ink from my mixed media stash.  

I added and mixed green, yellow and white acrylic paint in a paint dauber. Once I played around with the mix of colors, by adding more green and more white I got a fun mint/aqua color. I also added a few squirts of acrylic airbrush medium. This liquid will help thin my paint and help it not separate and be easier to spread through the dauber. I used the dauber straight down on the layout and splatted it on the paper in random spots. I love the way the liquid paint splats and sprays out onto the background and leave lots of little streaks of paint across the white background. This is messy but a controllable mess, I like when I can control where my mess can go. 
After I used the dauber I just dropped my liquid gold glitter ink straight from it's bottle onto the page. I am a big fan of watercolor splatters of any kind on layouts. You don't need much of it to make a huge impact. The higher you hold up the paint brush or bottle of liquid from the layout the bigger the drops will be. I wanted my drops to be a little smaller than my dauber spats. The glittery and shiny gold against the mint really adds contrast on the background. 
I still felt like it needed something else. I could have stopped, and called it good. This is something I have just learned from my own playing around with mixed media. How much I like on my pages, how much media I use until I feel the background is complete. I think each project and layout is different but playing around is really the only good way for you to know what you prefer and the look you want to go with. Since I wanted this white card stock to look like a patterned background, I knew it needed another layer or so. I find mixing patterns, shapes and sizes helps create an appealing design. These layers can really work together if you do it right.
For this background I decided I wanted black stripe. I used a paint brush to apply acrylic black paint. I didn't want my lines to straight and perfect so I just added them from the bottom to the top of the layout. I started with a thinner line at the bottom and getting a little thicker as I went to the top. I decided not to draw over the splatters and splats so I didn't cover up the texture you see with those splatters and splats. I also like the way this skip adds extra white space and breathing room on the background.  

For the last bit of mixed media on the actual background I used thinned navy/black acrylic paint in a fine line bottle to doodle circles near the splatters and splats. I left some of the circles open in the middle and fill some in. Because the paint is in a fine line bottle and thinned out it is really easy to control and doodle with, but when it dries it still adds a little dimension on the background. The circle design also repeats off of the splatters and splats and creates a really design that is unique but has a bit of structure. 
Creating my own backgrounds allows me to play with something messy, and play the stress of the week away . It also allows me to add a little bit more of me on the layouts that I make. Being creative and playing with media is my way of leaving a bit of me on my layouts and spreads for my family. When we make layouts for our families we use words but we also leave and tell more of a story with the way we arrange things on our pages. I really hope to encourage you to think about the things you do on your layouts and projects and what it tells to your family about you the creator. Do the things you love and use the things you love on the layouts you create so your family can really get to know you creatively and with the words you do leave on the spreads you make. Use your strengths to help tell your stories. 

I used some copper acrylic paint on this big chipboard words to match the copper on the stickers and die cuts from the kits. I layered this word with the die cuts and Paige Evans wood shapes. I think nestling embellishments together in clusters really leaves a big impact. Each shape peeking out a bit and creates shadows.
To back the white card stock with the mixed media on it I added a 12x12 patterned paper with a small dot pattern slightly askew. I know this will make it difficult when adding it to my page protector, but I really like the way these two patterns look hanging off of each other. I like the imperfect look it creates. I added some stitching with my sewing machine to the top and side connecting the two papers. 
I used a 3x4 sized photo with a few patterned papers from the main kit. I added the photo near the bottom of the layout. I used the stripes on the background as a shelf for the photo. This helps the photo feel more grounded. In the layers I also added a glassine bag filled with some sequins and some die cuts sticking out the top of the bag. I wanted the sheen of the bag to feel a little like the snow in my photo. 
I let the embellishment clutters trickle down the layout. The first main cluster is up at the top of the layout. I added a couple of die cuts layered with some wood pieces and stickers near the cluster. I added some copper paint to parts of the wood pieces too. 
 I will later added the journalling in the stripes before I add my layout to my album. This is a picture of the first major snow my kids have seen. The look on my son's face is priceless as he steps out into the snow for the first time. He is beaming to play in this magical thing called snow. I love that I can remember this moment forever by just looking at this photo. This is really the final nail for way I scrapbook. To remember these faces and moments, because my kiddos will grow up, they will move away from home and I will get older and that smile will fade from my mind's eye but this photo will last and I can see that cute big grin again. 

Thanks for joining me today and playing with some mixed media to create a background. I hope you play and share what you are creating with your lemonade kit on our Facebook group or on Instagram. Use the hashtag #click_connect_create. 
I will see you around, and if I don't have a post before Christmas I wish you a very special and crafty holiday season!! 

Happy Saturday everyone! Today I'm getting a little holiday on you all, I'm going to share a card I made using the Clique Into December 2017 Kit, as well as products in my stash, past kit products, and items we have in the Clique Kits Store.

I decided to do a little process video to share with you all.  You can watch the video below.

I loved creating this card. My inspiration started with the tree paper I created last holiday season. It is a printable paper. I printed it at home on regular printer paper and a laser printer. Once I had that printed off, of thought the Clique Into December 2017 kit would work perfect with it. I also recently purchased this stamp set from Lawn Fawn (Winter Village).

TIP: Instead of using the Winter Village stamp set, you could use the stickers and ephemera with the houses or even cut out the houses on the reverse side of the American Crafts "Winter Wonderland" paper. I used the pink side for my card front, but still have plenty of paper would I could have fussy cut the houses from the reverse and even painted some of them.

Below is the completed card. Below is a product list of the products I used on the card that are available in the Clique Kits Store.   REMEMBER: all orders placed in October 2017 will ship November 2017. If you do not indicate that it is okay to ship your purchase in November, we will reimburse you for your purchase. Just note in the "Notes" section that is okay to ship in November. This is due to Erica (who works our warehouse) being on maternity leave after the birth of her sweet baby. 

Thank you for joining me today! Have a great weekend.