Study Hall: Butterfly Cards

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Study Hall! Melissa here with you today and I’ve got two fun cards to share with you. Before I go on, I just want to say how much I love this category. We had Study Hall in my school days. I usually used it to goof off but, I always knew it was special to have some extra time to catch up on homework, get in some extra review and such.

So, for this post, I thought the Study Hall focus could be on “catching up” and getting in some good, card making review! I love making cards and I love experimenting with product and seeing how far I can make everything stretch.

One of those tools that help with making my products last as long as possible is my butterfly punch from Martha Stewart. I have had this thing forever! Thankfully, butterflies are timeless and can be used on many, many projects for years and years to come!

For this first card I’m sharing with you, I only used a couple of butterflies but, I can tell you about the overall design of this card. I love layering! And how fun is that corrugated paper??? By trimming a smaller piece and tearing one of the edges, I’ve just created some awesome texture for my lil’ ole card!

Here are a couple of close ups:

For this next card, I went all cray with my butterfly punches. I wanted to showcase all the luscious beauty of the Gather papers. SO pretty!!!

I love the whimsy that the butterfly trail provides.

Here is one more close up:

This may be review for some but, hey, this is Study Hall after all – when it comes to cards, think on a smaller scale when making your kit stretch. Small punch images, like my butterfly, help with that. Have fun layering and don’t be afraid to use “bulky” items like the corrugated paper. It will fit just fine in an envelope! More importantly, have FUN!

Thanks for joining me today! I know sneaks have started for the December kit already but, you can still snag some November kit items HERE.

Happy creating!

Card Double Feature: Art Studio

Hi everyone,

Melissa here with you today and I’m sharing my process for prepping cardstock for paint. I love incorporating watercolors, ink splats and various other paints with my card making.

For this post, I’ve included a process video so, make sure to watch that for all the details.

Some tips:
– I use clear gesso so that the color of the cardstock shows through.
– Use something with a flat edge to spread the gesso. It creates a cool texture!
– A heat tool/gun works fabulous for drying a project quickly.
– Use at least an 80 lb. weight, smooth cardstock. For these cards I used Neenah brand. The heavier weight holds up to the paint and water mediums better.

Alright, to see the full process, check out my video below:

Here are the full photos of the two cards I created after using the watercolor cardstock.

Some design notes: I love how the watercolor cardstock gives just a touch of added texture to the card while not overpowering. The colors I chose were purposeful in that it would bring out the colors of the papers and embellishments.

How fun is that cluster of sequins??? I use to never know quite know how to incorporate sequins. Especially on a card. But, I’ve been experimenting and that is the best thing one can do. Experiment. Sure there will be some cringe worthy mistakes but, there will also be those fun little treats!

I love utilizing ephemera for my cards. The watercolor background helps to anchor the overall design of the following card.

How fun is that Wild about You card??? I used some mist, from my stash, to spray and bring out the words. These are included in the November kit and this one was begging to be used on a card!

While all product, with the exception of the paints and mist, are from the kit, I did throw in some enamel dots from my stash to help finish off the overall design of the card.

Thank you for joining me for this Art Studio post. Hope you get an opportunity to add some fun watercolors to your cards!

Go check out the gorgeous Swan Lake kit HERE. It really is stunning! I’m still creating with it!

Thankful for You

Gobble Gobble Y’all! It’s November Kickoff! I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to you-all of our amazing subscribers, fans, and followers. You are the ones we are so grateful for this month and every month. For this month’s kickoff post I want to share some of your Instagram posts. We do check our tags often and love to see you sharing your layouts, cards, and other projects using your Clique Kits. As 2016 holidays draw near and we begin to count our blessings we are sending out tons of love!

First up I have this beautiful layout  by Ulrike Dold (@thinkpinkandmint)  using the exclusive Clique Kits autumn wreath cut file. Everything about it from the photograph to the soft tone on tone look to the lovely leaves on the bottom is scraplift worthy! Guess what! This gorgeous cut file is a freebie! You can download it right here! Please feel free to tell your scrappy friends to grab it and and any other cut files in our digital shop! We add more files every month!

Julie Otte (@JulieOtte5) tagged us when she posted this adorable layout because she used one of our Wildflower +Co stamps from the shop to create this super fun stamped background. The patterned paper collection on this page is available as part of our April Kit Origins and can also be found here.  Here is a picture of the stamp set she used which is for sale in the Clique Kits shop. Check out all of our unique indie small business stamp sets designed by talented artists while you are at it!

This layout by 2014-2016 DT member Donna Epiritu, who we love and cannot praise enough for her talent and dedication to Clique Kits for two years, was featured in a blog hop team up with Just Nick cut files and Stuck Sketches. Donna used her September 2016 Clique Kit supplies to complete the layout and I just love how it came out. These kits are for sale in the shop and include t some exclusive Clique Kits own 12 x 12 paper designs.

Another layout spotted on Instagram that I just had to feature by Sandy Gonzales, longstanding Clique subscriber, You Tuber, and friend of the Clique (not to mention talented scrapbooker)…also using the September kit Moon Child.

Here’s one from Clique Member and popular Instagrammer Hannah Lemieux (@dandalion2002)-former fellow Hawaii resident- using one of my favorite exclusive Clique Kits die cut backgrounds. I just love how she used this crazy circle background and her photo is so sweet. Thanks for sharing this one Hannah!

One of our hot new products for November is from Simple Stories by the Reset Girl. We are carrying some selections of her products that can be used for layouts as well as for planners and other projects. There is a paper pack which is versatile and contains the most easy to use and versatile of the patterned papers, There are the roller stamps with fun phrases and ephemera pieces with a modern vintage look that is very sassy.

And that’s a wrap of the November kickoff! I hope you will visit the shop. We have been hard at work organizing and adding categories to make shopping easier for you. You can now shop by season in addition to category and whether product is associated with a specific kit or limited edition kit.

Don’t forget that this month we have 30 days of gratitude prompts to follow along with the gratitude travelers notebook kit projects. There are some of these kits still available if you would like to pick one up !

Don’t ever forget that you are important, you are valued, and most importantly you are loved! When I count my blessings, I count you twice! The Clique Kits leadership team is always here for you and wants to know how to make your experience with your kits better-so do not hesitate to share your thoughts with us. Have a blessed day!

 

Hello, Love

Hello everyone,

Melissa here with you today sharing a card that is utilizing all the bits and pieces of your kit and papers! I love the challenge of using every piece of product to the last itty bitty piece. If my tape runner can fit, it can be used!

For this card, I wanted to use some leftover strips that were remnants from a previous card. I could easily throw them away but, no. I shall use them! Plus, I want to make a card that shows off the beautiful colors and patterns of this beautiful collection from Maggie Holmes. The Gather collection is so gorgeous and I can’t stop creating with it!

So, I used a scallop border punch and created some strips to layer on my card. Once I got them where I wanted them, I did some stitching which is always a fun, and easy, way to add some texture.

How fun is that? I love the look of stitching I think it just enhances the overall base design of this card.

The rest of this card flowed pretty easily. I cut out one of the polaroid shapes from the patterned paper and used it to frame the sentiment. By mounting it on pop dots, it added some awesome dimension, I think. And how cute are those paper clips??? Easy and adorable embellishing!

Here is the final product. I’m so happy with how this card turned out!

As always, thanks for swinging by today and I hope this has given you more ideas on how to use every single piece of your kit while showing off the beauty of it as well!

Hello Card: Geek Lab

Hi everyone,

Melissa here with you today for my very first post as a CK Varsity Team member and I’m excited that it’s Geek Lab!

I love using cut files and my Silhouette Cameo to create projects. One thing that has been interesting to adapt is, utilizing cut files that are meant for layouts, on my cards. I’ve learned a couple of things by watching You Tube videos and just pushing buttons in my Silhouette software. I thought I would share with you today a card I made and how I made a cut file work for my card.

I used one of the exclusive cut files you can find, in the shop, that are part of the Swan Lake November kit. (Isn’t the kit a beauty???) I used the large background cut file. Man, I love a good background cut file!

Once I uploaded it into my Silhouette Software, I had to do something called ‘Release Compound Path’. This allows me to separate all the little pieces and shapes of the cut file. I’ll show you why I need to do that in a sec but, here is a screenshot of this looks like:

 

The reason I do this is because I’m going to take out the majority of this file to make it work for my smaller canvas – that is a card. If I were to shrink down this cut file, in it’s entirety, those cut lines would be way too tiny.

Once I release the compound path, you can see in the screen shot how I now have a bunch of pieces. I’m going to delete most of those until I’m left with the following:

Now, I’m ready to Weld the pieces back together and resize to what I want for my card. After selecting all the shapes, I’m going to head to the bottom-left of my Studio and select ‘Group Selected Shapes’. I don’t have an arrow pointing in this screenshot but in the bottom-left, you can see the little pop up bar saying just that. When I click on that, it will all be one shape again and will resize properly.

Here is another trick I use in my Studio software. For cards, I like to create a shape that measures the size of my actual card. This helps me figure it out the exact size I would like my cut file to be. Here is a screenshot of that happening:

Once I get it just right, I delete the card shape and cut out my file!

Here it is cut out and ready to go:

I did make a boo-boo when I resized the cut file and ended up having to cut it all the way out to adhere to the top of a new card base. It actually worked out just fine!

Now that my cut file is ready to go, I can finish my card by adding various papers from the GORGEOUS November kit. I mean really, you gotta love those Maggie Holmes papers. So beautiful!

Here is my finished card with some close ups:

Thank you so much for swinging by today!

To get the November kit, Swan Lake, and see the exclusive cut files, head over here.