Designing on the Diagonal

Hey Everyone!! It’s Sarah here today and sadly this is my last post on the Clique Kits Design Team. I’ve had such a great time being a part of this team, but it’s my time to say goodbye! I will always love the kits though, and I definitely plan on sticking around to check out what the new design team has in store!!

Ok, now back to my layout! I want to share with you how to create a layout on a diagonal design. Now, if you’re looking at something, your eye automatically looks from the bottom left, to the top middle, then to the .bottom right. It’s the natural way your brain processes things, so when you create your design on the diagonal, it’s very visually appealing. It flows easily and guides your eye right to where you want to look!

For this layout, I used all the beautiful embellishments in this month’s kit to create a diagonal line that I put my photo on. I also layered the patterns on this layout in the background loosely following the rule of thirds. If you don’t know what the rule of thirds is, it’s basically a rule in art that stems from the theory that the human eye naturally gravitates towards intersection points that occur when the image is split into thirds. So things often look more appealing when they’re set along these lines in composition 🙂

I clustered some of the printables from this month with a cute little camera stamp and those awesome wood veneers and enamel dots that came in the add ons this month. I just kept placing things along the diagonal line until I liked the way it looked!

I made my title out of one of the wood veneers and the scripty phrase stickers that came in the kit and made sure I kept that on the diagonal too. I just wanted to keep everything flowing in that direction.

Those vellum hearts are one of my favorite things in this kit!

Once I had placed everything down that I wanted on there, I stamped these adorable heart clusters and the chevron arrows from the Oh Snap stamp set by Honey Bee Scraps. I absolutely love this set! It’s got the cutest camera stamps, and if you know me, you’ll know I’m completely addicted to cameras!

I finished this layout off with a little bit of journaling underneath my photo and that was it! I’m really happy with how it turned out!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to the amazing girls at Clique Kits for having me on their team! I’ve loved every minute of it!!

Blessings,

Pocket Pages: Not Just For Project Life

Good Morning Clique Kits fans!! Sarah here to share with you a layout I made using the September Kit! I wanted to make a layout about how much of a blessing my four boys are and I knew I wanted to use 4 pictures. Now to make this easier, I thought I’d use a project life page! I love how they’re already planned out for you and you can just make up these cute little pockets and you’re all done!

I love that you can have space for quite a few pictures and also a lot of room for journaling too while still making cute little embellished areas on your page too!

I can’t even get over how handsome my boys are! I know I’m a little biased, but even still, they’re so stinkin cute! lol

I hope I can inspire you to break out your pocket pages and get some scrapping done even if you don’t do project life!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Gelatos, Paints and Die Cuts, Oh My!

Good Morning Everyone!! Sarah here today to share with you probably my favourite layout I’ve made in a long time!

When we were in Vancouver in July, my oldest son Ethan was on a hammock in my husband’s uncle’s backyard and he had my camera. I guess he was taking selfies because when I put all my photos onto my computer I found all these awesome shots of him lying in the hammock! Some he was making goofy faces, and others just looking at the camera. I really loved these two and I knew I wanted to use them in a layout!

I really loved this month’s exclusive cut files and I knew I wanted to use the big background floral one (it kind of reminds me of a spirograph! does anyone else remember those?!), I just didn’t know what I was going to do with it…then I thought it would be fun to use some of that gorgeous paint that came in the Clique Into Color kit  and a few of my gelatos to create a custom background that matched the colors in this kit!

I started this background twice, and I quickly realized that I needed to do a layer of gesso first before coloring it. I was using a lot of water and the cardstock didn’t handle it well on it’s own. So I started over again and painted a thin layer of gesso over the entire sheet of cardstock first, then after it dried I got down to business! I started by colouring a layer of my pink gelato and sprayed my sponge with some water then just smeared it around. I did the same thing with the orange gelato. When I was using the paint, I put it directly on my sponge, then misted it with a little water to make it more fluid, then layered it down on the paper too.

I really love the effect it gave behind the cut file!

I really loved the ephemera and that cut apart paper from Cocoa Vanilla that came in this kit! It’s perfect for layering!

The alphabet stickers didn’t stick too well to the page because of the mixed media, and I was going to sew it down with my sewing machine, but I forgot! lol As I’m looking at these pictures I realize that it’s completely bugging me and I will definitely be doing some stitching on this layout later!

I really love this mixed media technique and I can totally see many more layouts using it in the future!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Blessings

Using your Project Life Cards on 12×12 layouts

Good Morning Clique Kits fans!! Sarah here to share with you a layout I made using the Exclusive Project Life cards in the kit! Every month Clique Kits comes up with some pretty amazing PL cards, and since I have tried and failed miserably at making a Project Life album, I want to come up with other ways of using them!

This is is a super easy way to use those cards! I printed off 3 3×4 photos and arranged them in a grid with the PL cards! Add a little stitching and some of the Exclusive flair and some of the other cute embellies in this kit and you’ve got yourself a quick and easy Project Life inspired layout! 

I stitched in between the grid to give it more of a pocket page style to it and add some more interest and texture! I’m really happy with how it turned out!

So you don’t have to be a Project Life scrapper to use up those cards in your stash! I’d love to see what you make with yours!!

Blessings,

Playing with Big Titles

Good Morning Clique Kits Fans! Sarah here to share my last layout using the July kit! I’ve had so much fun with this kit that I’m almost sad that it’s gone, but I’m also really excited to get my August kit, so it makes it ok! lol

Big titles on layouts are so in right now, and I am loving using them in my layouts! They make a great statement and act a great embellishment on your page too! You can make them big and bold with a thick font, or you can use a scripty font for a more delicate look. For this layout I used a cut file from The Cut Shoppe and it’s got both thick bold letters with a nice hand written addition!

I actually jumped the gun on adhering everything to this layout and then once I had, I realized that it was a little heavy on the one side with the large title and then I had nothing on the other side. And of course I used super hardcore adhesive on my photo, so there was no moving it! So I added the die cut banner, some thread and the exclusive flair from the kit and my journaling and I think I managed to somewhat balance it out! It’s till heavy on the side with the title, but I still like it 😉

I’d love to see what you do with big titles on your layouts! You can link them up to our Anything Goes challenge for a chance to win some PinkFresh Studios goodies too!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Art Studio: Everyday Happiness

Good Morning! Sarah here today to share with you how I made my title on my Silhouette Cameo! I got this idea from an amazing fellow scrapper Missy Whidden! She is such a mixed media guru! I just love all of her layouts! Anyway, she tried this technique on one of her You Tube videos and I thought it was such a great idea I had to try it out!.

It’s a really simple technique, but it works so good! I started out by cutting the title “Everyday Happiness” from the July Exclusive cut files with white cardstock. Now, here’s the technique: Before you take the title off your cutting mat, you do all of your colouring with your mixed media! You can do any technique you’d like, but I used another one of Missy’s techniques, which is using ink on a piece of packaging and just dabbing it randomly around. See how technical these are?! lol It’s awesome though because it’s such a simple thing, with some pretty awesome results! I used Ranger Distress Ink in Cracked Pistachio and I just pressed the ink pad onto the packaging then added a small amount of water. Then I folded the packaging in half and smeared it around before I dabbed it onto my cutting mat. You do have to make sure it’s really dry before you peel your letters off the mat, and using some kind of metal spatula really helps it along! Doing it this way is so much easier than taking it off the mat then adding your mixed media though because you don’t have to deal with possibly tearing your paper when it’s wet and you’re getting it all inky!

Once I was done cutting it out and adding it to my layout, I just lined it with a black pen so it would stand out more. I’m really loving the way it turned out!

I snapped this pic of my oldest and youngest sons sleeping together. They have such an amazing bond, it just warms my heart!

I wanted to add a little more interest to my cardstock, so I took a scripty background stamp from my stash and just randomly stamped it on the background without using a block. I find you can make it more random that way and you get away from that square background stamp look.

I’ve had so much fun working with this kit, and I am proud to say this layout was the kit killer! lol I only have scraps left and I’ve got 6 layouts done with it! I love that satisfaction you get when you use up an entire kit! Feels good to put a mini dent in that stash! lol

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you give that technique a try! It’s so fun!

Blessings

Playing with the Fuse Tool!

Good Morning my fellow Clique Kits junkies!! Sarah  here to show you how you can stretch out the use of your fuse tool! I LOVE this tool! You can do sooo many fun things with it! For this layout, I wanted to make a big circle embellishment, so I used an 8.5×11 page protector I had kicking around and my biggest circle nesting die as a guide and created this cute confetti pocket! It was pretty easy! You just really have to remember that the Fuse tool gets really HOT!! It seemed to slip my mind when I was using it, and I totally burnt myself! I can see that being a regular occurrence around here for me! lol All I did to create this pocket was pick out what I wanted to have in it, and put it in the page protector first, then put the circle die around it. I used the inside of the circle as a guide, then run the Fuse tool around it, and voila! Easy Peasy! I taped the “do more of what you love” card inside the circle, and I added sequins and I also made some confetti with my bubbly border punch and some of the scraps left over from the kit. I liked having a card taped inside the circle, because it gave me an easy spot to add adhesive when I was putting it on my layout!

That silver paper that comes in the kit is perfect for die cutting!

I used a cut file from The Cut Shoppe to create that cute little heart banner under my photo and I added those adorable puffy stickers to it to make it pop! I’m loving how it turned out!

I’m totally loving this layout and I’m so happy with the way my fun circle embellishment turned out using the Fuse Tool! I really like thinking of fun ways to stretch my supplies and come up with a lot of different uses for my tools! I’d love to see what you make with your Fuse! If you don’t have one and NEED to get one, then you can use my coupon code SARAH10 in the Clique Kits shop for 10% off your purchase!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

I’ll see you soon!

My Little Kitchen Scrap Space

Good Morning!! Sarah here to share my little scrap space with you! When we first bought our house, I had a nice big basement scraproom that I shared with the kids as their play room. But when we first bought our house, we only actually had 2 kids (and one on the way). When I got pregnant with Linden, we knew we had to change things around because we only had 3 bedrooms in our house plus the rec room. So, we tore apart the rec room and renovated it and made it into our giant bedroom, then we moved the two middle boys into our old bedroom, moved Ethan into Caleb and Kieran’s old room, and then set up the nursery in Ethan’s old room. I swear it would have been easier to move into a whole new house than it was to do what we did! Did I mention we had to put a new roof on our house around the same time too?! You know you’re busy when you can’t wait to have your fourth baby so you can relax! LOL Anyway, the point of the story is that when we had Linden, I lost my scrap space, and I had to think really hard as to where I was going to put all of my stuff! Our house is very small, so there wasn’t a lot of options, but we do have this odd kitchen that’s quite long with all of our appliances (except the dishwasher) on the one side, and the other side didn’t really have anything…enter, my new scrap space!!

Once we knew where my space was going to be, I had to do some MAJOR downsizing in my supplies, and find something to hold the majority of my stuff. I found this awesome china cabinet thingy on a buy and sell site on Facebook for 100 bucks and I knew it would be perfect!! It holds a lot of my supplies, but also has these great drawers that hide some of the not so pretty stuff. When I first set out to have my space here I swore I would keep it neat and tidy because it’s in the kitchen where everyone can see it…well, I’m just not the neat and tidy type…and I struggle ALL THE TIME with it, but every now and then it’s all cleaned up and now is one of those times…I promise I’m going to try really hard to keep it that way! I even scrapbooked last night and cleaned up after myself!! That pretty much never happens! lol

This is my desk where I do most of my scrapping. I say most because I don’t have room for my Cameo, which is in the living room on the computer desk, so some of it gets done in there….also, my sewing machine is in another spot in the house, so, ya know…lol (there’s also a little sneak of the project I was working on last night for an upcoming Clique Kits blog post!)

I keep some of my stamps in the wicker baskets and my wooden stamps are on the ledge behind them. Those cute little colourful tins in the opening have all my mixed media goodies like gelatos, paint brushes and some acrylic paints. I also have my roller stamps in there.

The cropper hopper container is where I have all my cardstock…it’s super organized if you can’t already tell! lol The shelf beside it has most of my inks and paints. All the stuff I need to get good and messy! Oh, and my pretty Big Shot! I just love the designs on it, and I’m all about pretty things 😉 The twirly white holder has my scissors, adhesive, stamp blocks and various random things stuffed into it. I find the slots to be quite deep in it, so things get lost in it if they’re not tall, but it does the trick for the most part 😉

I knew when I was downsizing my space that I needed something to hold a lot of embellishments in a small area, so I splurged and bought a Clip it Up. It has been a life saver! I LOVE how many embellishments I can fit onto it and all I have to do is spin it around to find what I’m looking for!

My cabinet shelves hold my acrylic paints, punches, embossing powders, alcohol inks, some stamps, all of my Epiphany Crafts goodies, my Project life cards (that I bought when I swore I was going to start doing PL….I still have yet to manage that kind of organization! lol), and a big old jar full of die cuts and ephemera…I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way to store them, but I really couldn’t think of any other way! lol

I got this fun cubby thing that fits perfectly on the bottom shelf of my China Cabinet from a friend of mine and it holds all my washi tape (I know, I have a problem…lol I LOVE washi!!)

It also holds all of my mist…now, I don’t love this way of storing my mist because it’s a really deep container, so that means that I often don’t use all of the mist that I have because it’s a pain to get to it…so if you have any other amazing ideas for storage for these, I would love to hear them! They just have to be out of the way of the kids, because my 2 year old would LOVE to mess up my house with these if he got the chance!! lol

I also put my 6×6 paper pads and Close to My Heart stamps in here too. It’s like they were designed just for that! I love these two shelves above the drawers because they’re perfect for keeping my Clique Kits kits organized! I usually keep the kit that I’m working with in one of those shelves, and there’s usually a past kit kickin around in the other one 😉

Behind my desk is another little shelf to hold more stamps (I think I have a slight addiction….and I really need to use them more often!! lol) I also have my stencils and wood veneer on that shelf and my collection of dies. I love the boxes I bought from Walmart that hold my paper and past kits! They’re so pretty! My alphabets are kept beside that shelf on another shelf that I share with my fruit basket and paper towel holder! lol They’re in a cute little box right now, but I accidentally bought a TON of new alphabets just recently, so when they get here I don’t know what I’m going to do! lol

at one point in time these were organized into paper colour…but organization just does NOT come naturally to me, so they have since been kind of thrown in haphazardly!  

Here’s a close up of the cubbies in this shelf, and all the pretty things! Stamps, and dies, and veneers oh my! lol

and here’s another look at my shelf…note: those bottles of alcohol on top of it…I bought those to make Belinis for my 30th birthday…I’ll be 34 in January, and we still haven’t made them!! Isn’t that sad?! We forgot to, and there they sit! I’m going to make an effort to actually make them this summer because they’re just so yummy!! Who wants to come over for some slushy scrapbooking?! lol

Well there you have it! I hope you’ve enjoyed the tour of my scraproom!! Please feel free to give me any tips on where else I could store my mists and alphas!!

Blessings!

Stitching With Your Cameo

Good Morning Clique Kits fans!!

Today I want to share a layout with you that I made using the Exclusive cut files that go with the July kit! Instead of cutting the file, I used a sketch pen in my silhouette and sketched out the lines. I then poked holes in the big words and stitched them for a fun effect.

I used the black sketch pen because I was going to be leaving some of the words unstitched and I wanted them to show up. If I was just using a sketch pen for making lines for stitching, I would go with a different colour.

I used a lot of mixed media in this layout, including this cool piece of fabric I got off of a package from something my sister bought!

I die cut the silver paper that came in the kit using the Kesi Art Geometric Heart die that’s in the shop. I love how they turned out!

I’m so happy with how this layout turned out! I love all the embellishments that came in the kit this month and that cut file is amazing!

Thanks for stopping by! See you again soon!

I Am an Insta Junkie

Hello my darling Clique Kits fans! I hope you’re carving out some time in your days to get your scrap on! I’ve been trying to make sure I do something creative every day and it has really helped me keep my mojo going!!

Today I want to share with you a layout I made using the sold out I Am Gold exclusive kit featuring the amazing I Am collection by Simple Stories. I absolutely LOVE this collection! It’s so versatile in that you can create layouts about yourself (which is always good, because your kids are going to want to know more about you too, and not just see a million layouts about them! lol), but it’s also great for making those layouts about our kid’s personalities and anyone else too! Love it!

For this layout I wanted to create a grid showing off my obsession with instagram. I LOVE instagram! I love that you can put fun filters on photos and share them via instagram on facebook too. I’m a bit of a junkie to say the least! lol So I found some of my favorite instagram photos and made them all black and white so they wouldn’t be too busy for the eye, and printed them all out on a contact sheet on my printer.  The layout came together really easily! I just arranged the photos in a grid and placed a few little embellishmets here and there and a little stitching and there you have it!

I fussy cut one of the 4×6 cards that had the I am on it for my title and used the small stickers from the sticker sheet for the rest of the title. I love that little heart geotag!

Because there are so many photos, I didn’t want to put too many embellishments on this layout, because I really wanted to focus to be on the pictures. So I just added a few sequins and some mist splatters to give it a little more visual interest and left it at that.

I hand cut the “Insta” part of the title out of patterned paper and popped it up with pop dots to make it stand out more. Then I finished off my title with those fabulous gold hearts and that adorable arrow sticker!

I also wanted to share another layout I made using the last bits of my kit. My son sent me this meme and it inspired this layout:

I knew it would be perfect for this picture of Ethan holding their second place trophy for their hockey tournament a few years ago!

I just got those fabulous Hero Arts Ombre ink pads and I was itching to use them, so I grabbed this Altenew stamp set that came in the kit (it’s also available for purchase in the store separately) and used it to make my background. I also used some Tim Holtz distress ink that I put on a piece of packaging with a little water and smushed it around and dabbed it randomly around my page. I love that technique!

The “awesome” in my title is a Heidi Swapp alphabet from my stash that I colored with the Tim Holtz ink also.

I really love the Altenew Thoughts and Reminders stamp set. It’s got a lot of great sentiments that you can use for your scrapbooking and cards alike! You can use my coupon code SARAH10 to get 10% off this set and anything else in the store if you have a hankering for some shopping! 😉

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Blessings