Geek Lab: Faux Brush Lettering on my Title

Hello! It’s Caroli here again, and today I want to talk about something that is very trendy and really beautiful: brush lettering!

I love brush lettering , it’s such a beautiful technique and adds a lot to our projects, specially on the titles. Nevertheless, I must admit that although I’ve practiced a lot I’m not good at it. The brush and I are not good friends and most of the time I’m affraid of ruining a pretty page because my lettering comes out horrible.

So, what can we do if we want pretty brush lettering title but are not sure if it will come out as we pictured it on our imagination? we can use faux brush lettering, that is, cut the words with our cutting machine!

In this layout I cut part of my title in black cardstock to keep the brush lettering look. I completed the title using puffy yellow alpha and one acetate word, both included on July kit RASKOG.

Here you can see a closeup of the faux brush lettering, it looks pretty and it’s a  more controlled way of including it in your layout, don’t you think? I love the combination of black lettering, clear word and yellow alpha, it looks interesting and very colorful!

Of course you can use any brush font, I recomend you to google “brush fonts” and a lot of interesting and beautiful fonts will apear for you to use with your cutting machine. I you want to download Brusher font, which is the one I used on thos project,  you can do it for free here.

I hope you like this idea, it’s quite simple but the results are pretty. Have a lovely day!

Geek Lab: Writing + Acetate Title

Hello there, how are you? Caroli here, and I’m so happy to be posting again at Clique Kits blog 🙂 Today I want to show you this layout I made using July kit RASKOG, which features lovely Life Noted collection by Pinkfresh Studio.

When I saw this kit, the first thing that caught my eye was the acetate words and prases, I love the clear look and started thinking how could I take advantage of their transparency, and this idea came to my mind.

As you may know, Silhouette machines are good not only for cuting but also for writing with the help of sketch pens (or with any pen if you usue a pen adapter) so I decided to use my machine and a black sketch pen to draw part of the title (I used Rage Italic font). Once part of my title was written, I completed the phrase with some of the acetate words of the set. I made sure the acetate words were slightly over the drawn title for a better effect:

I love the colors and patterns in this collection, this patterned paper sheet was specially filled with patterns but it does not look noisy at all, how cool is that! I think that it makes a great background.

I love the rubbers embellishments, thay are so colorful an add a lot of dimension to any project. Also I fell in love with those puffy hearts from the add-ons, aren’t the custest hearts ever?!

And here is my full layout. It’s quite simple but funny and colorful. I love how my title came out!

I hope you like this idea and giv it a try. If you have questions just leave a comment, thak you for stopping by and have a lovely day 🙂

Oh Snap

Hello Clique Kits friends!

Marcia here today with some more layout inspiration with the awesome July Kit Raskog! This is my 4th layout with the kit and I am amazed how much paper I have left! On this layout I decided to add some texture to my background with some modeling paste and a stencil I created from one of the digital cut files this month.  I used the plus signs from this cut file.

I erased all but the plus signs and duplicated and welded the cut file. Here is what it looked like when I was ready to cut it out …

Since I was going to use this as a stencil, it didn’t matter what paper I used, so I used a piece of white cardstock that had gotten dirty. If you want to keep the stencil and reuse it, try cutting out of acetate… like the yellow sheet that came with this month’s Clique Kit.

I arranged the stencil over my background paper, using my photo as a guide. I didn’t need to get modeling paste behind my photo, but I wanted to make sure I was creating texture all around it.

This is what it looked like after applying the modeling paste.

I watercolored the background using a couple different colors to help draw the eye to my photo. Here is the finished result…

I let those acetate words be my title and embellished with the rubber charms, the acrylic add on frame stickers, some cardstock stickers, and wood veneer hearts from the Pinkfresh Felicity collection. The flair is from my stash … I used all my flair in the kit already except for one and it did not fit this vacation layout. Since the background paper word strips did not fit my photo …. I did some journaling on my computer and cut out strips to place over the top. Here are some close-ups…

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Summer Adventure

Hello Clique Kits friends!

Marcia back today with some digital die cutting inspiration using some of those awesome July kit exclusive cut files. I fell in love with the SUMMER cut file with all the variety of patterns going on in the different letters. I combined it with the adventure cut file. Now I had a perfect title for a layout to document a road trip vacation we took to the Black Hills in South Dakota! Oh, how I miss our camper! With kids almost done with college we have been talking about camping trips again, Wahooo! Here is my layout…

 

I used the yellow acetate sheet to back the cut file. Yellow is perfect for summer layouts! Here is another look at that awesome title.

 

Yes, I did a crazy amount of machine stitching on this layout. The watercolor background paper just wanted to curl up everywhere on me. Mounting it to heavy black cardstock and stitching helped immensely. Machine stitching is a great way to adhere those fabulous Pinkfresh transparency words too… Even on photos. I placed one of the exclusive flair buttons over an’O’ in the Go See Do transparent phrase. Works perfectly there!

My journaling is all about sticking heads and cameras out of car windows, lol. It’s hard to see in the photo, but that black head above my daughter’s head is my dog Satchel. You can see some of those pretty sequins from SpiegelMom Scraps and a Pinkfresh Studios rubber charm here too.

I hope I gave you some more fun ideas on how you can use your July Clique Kit! Thanks for stopping by today.

Locker Room: Little Moments

Hello Friends! Leigh here, with another take on one of the exclusive cut files for June. I love how Kim used this cut file yesterday, and love that we all can get such different looks with the same supplies!

Follow the step by step directions below to recreate this layout.

 

 

 

Step One: Trace and resize the cut file, and place strategically on your page. I just kept resizing and moving them around until I liked the layout, and could imagine my photo nestled in at the bottom right of the page. Cut it out!

 

 

Step Two: Stitch it! Pick three of the cuts to stitch as shown.

 

 

Step Three: Back with different Elle’s Studio patterns from the gorgeous June kit, spacing out similar colors across the layout.

 

 

Step Four: Select embellishments, wood veneer, and punch fringe flowers from your June Clique Kits. Coordinate similar colors in the centers of all your cut files.

 

 

Step Five: Add your photo, tags, and title. I chose to use dimensional foam to make a pocket behind the photo to hide my journaling on the tag.

 

 

Close up top left: You can see the Illustrated Faith Enamel Hearts that are June add-ons from the Clique Kits Store here.

 

 

Close up bottom left: Don’t you love all the different embellishments included this month?!

 

 

Close up of photo.

 

 

Supplies from the beautiful Clique Kits La Dolce Vita Kit for June 2016, and add-ons from the Clique Kits Store.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today!

 

Be The Change

Hello Clique Kits friends!

Marcia back today with my 4th layout using the May Clique Kit Northern Lights. Since I am not a PL scrapper, I like to look for new ways to use those PL cards that are in every Clique Kit. This PL card stood out for me; ‘Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile’. I knew I wanted to use it on a layout … and lucky for me my daughter left this selfie on my phone, lol.

I used a JustNick digital cut file called Bits and Pieces Heart. If you look closely you can see I cut apart another PL card and used it to fill my negative space behind my cut file. Since that Smile PL card contained blues and purples, I then choose blues, purples, white and black pattern papers from the Basic Grey Urban Luxe and Fancy Pants Designs Attwell collections to fill the remaining negative spaces.

I left the rest of my layout relatively simple. Because I wanted to keep the heart shape prominent, I added embellishments on top of my photo. That Hey Chica die cut also went with my color scheme. I added a few alpha stickers and a puffy heart sticker from the Fancy Pants Attwell collection. I tucked a tag behind my photo for my journaling.

I hope I inspired you to give those PL cards another look when using them on your next layout. Thanks for stopping by.

Honolulu Skyline

Hello Clique friends!

Marcia back today with another Honolulu layout using the gorgeous papers from the Basic Grey Urban Luxe collection. This one captures the skyline at night. Our hotel with its partial ocean view was the ideal spot to watch the fireworks. Who knew that every Friday night, there are fireworks over the harbor! What a wonderful surprise!! Here is my layout …

I love using my Silhouette sketch pens to embellish my background paper. With the skyline photos, I thought it would be really cool to add a sketched skyline to my layout. I used a platinum sketch pen so it would have some shimmer and stand out against the black background. Some splattered white paint and a few stars complete the skyline look. Aren’t those emoticon cloud die cuts adorable! They are a Clique exclusive.

Since the top of my layout was so dark, I wanted the lower half to pop with color. I cut several circles the same size out of a variety of pattern papers. Then I scored a square in the middle of each one. This made it easier to fold the edges of the circles to the inside.

Yes, it is a bit labor intensive, but the result is eye catching.

With all that color, I didn’t go too crazy with other embellishments. I love this flair button from the Fancy Pants Attwell collection and those Richard Garay matte enamel dots.

I hope you give this paper folding technique a try. It’s lots of fun and is a good way to use up lots of scraps.

Thanks for stopping by!

Clique Spring Cards

Hello Clique friends!

Marcia back today to show you some of the things I have created with the awesome Clique Kits Spring Card kit. This kit features the oh so popular My Mind’s Eye On Trend 2, an adorable Waffle Flower Crafts bow die, and a fabulous Honey Bee Stamp Set that is only available now in our Spring Card Kit! Take a look …

I have to tell you those flamingos and pineapples are my favorites. They were the first things I used to adorn my cards…

My daughter’s Vet School white coat ceremony is Saturday!!! I made this card for her. The glassine bag will work perfect to stick a little gift card into. Just what my girl needs … a little $$ to make it through the next 52 weeks of her externships. Yup, I am one proud mama!

Check out this adorable bow! I love that Waffle Flower Crafts die!

My next cards make use of more of the dies in the ephemera die cuts pack. These dies make it so easy to put a card together fast! Can’t decide what paper to use … use 2 and cut them on a diagonal for a different look….

Yes, there was a fabulous Honey Bee Stamp set as well. I used it on this coffee cup I created from an SVGcuts Good Day at the Office digital cut file. It looks like the real deal, doesn’t it. I am going to fill it with chocolates for my office assistant who is retiring. It would make a great teacher gift too. I stamped the sentiment here with VersaMark ink and embossed with gold embossing powder.

The butterfly was stamped on vellum and then embossed with a white embossing powder before I fussy cut it out.

If you like what you are seeing, then you better hurry and snatch up your Spring Card kit in the Clique store before they are gone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Waikiki Beach

Hello Clique friends!

Marcia here today. I am so excited to be kicking off the May Clique Kit inspiration!! Have you see the kit? It features the Fancy Pants Designs Attwell collection AND the Basic Grey Urban Luxe collection plus lots of Clique exclusives. I LOVE it all!

Those Urban Luxe papers were talking to me. I thought they would be perfect for scrapping photos of Honolulu from our recent trip to Hawaii and what could be more urban luxe than Waikiki Beach …

My favorite pattern paper from the Urban Luxe collection is that floral background paper. I tore the piece of corrugated cardboard so the edges would be distressed. I added a little gesso to soften the edges. Then I placed another piece of pattern paper on top. I clustered two smaller photos in the lower left corner and placed a larger photo in the opposite corner.

This die cut is one of the Clique exclusive cut files this month. I love how intricate it is. The flair in the kit this month is part of the Attwell collection. There is even a fabulous roll of yellow chevron washi tape!

Here is another flair button from the kit along with these fabulous Richard Garay matte enamel dots. I used a couple of the tags behind my photos to hold my journaling.

The heart is one of the Clique exclusive ephemera die cuts. I combined it with more enamel dots and a puffy arrow sticker.

We recently had a user in the Clique Facebook group ask how to import the Clique cut files into the Silhouette software. She had just gotten a Silhouette Cameo!!  I wanted to share with you my method of storing my Clique cut files in my Silhouette library. I like to be able to browse through all my designs. It reminds me of files I might otherwise forget about. I created a folder just for my Clique Kit cut files.

To create a new folder, right click on My Library, select New Folder. Give your folder a name (like Clique Kits). Then left click your new Clique Kits folder to select it. The right side should be empty (if you just created the folder).

To extract your downloaded files. Open up the zipped file and select which ones to extract and click the Extract button. If you do not have the deluxe software version that allows you to cut SVGs, you want to look for the Studio files.

Now open your download directory where your unzipped files are located. Arrange your windows so you can see both your downloaded files (on the left) and your Silhouette Clique Kits folder (on the right). Select one, (or a range of files you want to move) drag the files to the Silhouette Clique folder. I store my printables and cut files together.

It’s really that easy!  If you have any questions about the Clique Kit cut files feel free to ask in a comment here or on the Clique Facebook group.

I hope I am getting you all excited to receive your May Clique Kit!

 

Geek Lab: Tag Cut File Mini Album

Hello, its Melissa and I’m back again.  You’ll know by now that I love making mini albums, and today I have a mini that I made using this months exclusive tag digital cut file as my base.  Of course I’m using the gorgeous April Kit “Origins”.

Here is the tag cut file:

I cut the cover of the album in white card stock with the entire pattern, but for the pages of the album I only cut the tag shape.  I enlarged the cut file to make sure my largest 4×6 photo would fit.Here are all the tags cut and ready to go. I always start my mini album by adhering my photos.  The mini album is about my youngest (20 months old at the time) and her dance that she performed one morning around the kitchen. I was so lucky to capture these sweet photos!  You can purchase the Tombow Mono permanent glue tape in the CK store here.And then the fun part of embellishing, always my favourite time!  Look at all the gorgeous embellishments from the kit.I made the cover very minimalist.  I backed the cut file with a silver cupcake wrapper, and used a butterfly ephemera piece, black Bella Blvd letter stickers and an Illustrated Faith enamel heart (love them!).And here is my finished album.  The yellow ribbon is from my stash.I stuck a white card stock label to the back cover to hide the cupcake wrapper, and I used a cut apart card for my journaling.  The chipboard add on was perfect for extra dimension, and you can purchase it here.The first photo shows my daughter starting her dance.  The photos were taken with my iPhone, and aren’t the best quality, but I love them because they capture the moment!  When an impromptu dance is happening theres no time to go searching for my DSLR!!On the back of each photo page I embellished.  For this page I fussy cut the sentiments out of one of the 4×6 cut apart cards.She continued her dance through the kitchen, and I made this tag from the Bella Blvd heart acetate.  I also used lots of enamel dots, another kit add on which you can purchase here.The back of the acetate was potentially problematic, but I decided to not be too concerned about what could be seen through it.  I framed one of the exclusive printables with a Simple Stories chipboard frame.My final page is the finish of her dance, I love her little foot over the vacuum cleaner cord!  The paper that I cut this tag from is one of my favourites, which is why I choose it for this smaller photo.I hope you enjoyed this tag mini!  I certainly had a blast making it.  Have a lovely weekend!