mini-album – Gia Aloha

Clique into Summer: Hawaii Faves

I used the Clique Kits Limited Edition Summer Kit to create a fun mini album which serves as a pictorial guide book to all of my favorite scenic and cultural sites on Oahu. We frequently have visitors who naturally want to take in all of the beauty and culture in Hawaii-so what better way to get my “extra” photos into an album I can keep on display for them to peruse! Most of these photos were taken during day trips, hikes, and other events but never made it onto a layout of that particular event or trip.

Here are some of the specs of this album! It is approximately 4 x 6 in dimensions, perfect for holding my 4 x 6 photos and designed to resemble a camera with a twist! This album features a zebra pattern cover. My cover also features a peek -a -boo wooden hand-marbled heart. Throughout the album I repeated the design of white gesso backgrounds, crab washi tape, and full page photos. Both of the cover items (zebra and marbled heart) are on clearance in the Clique Kits shop! The rest of this album was made very simply from the Clique Into Summer 2016 kit which features the Simple Stories collection You Are Here. It is perfect for my Hawaii Album! I hope you enjoy the flip through my mini album.

-xo Gia

Clique Kits August Pep Rally

Well, it’s official. I no longer post on this blog unless it’s a Pep Rally day! How sad is that? Still, I am really grateful that this monthly event for my kit club Clique Kits happens, or I just might let this passion-scrapbooking- totally disappear from my life! I really hope I can carve out more time to create and blog- it is so much fun to be part of this online community of creative friends around the world.

This month we are sharing projects using the August kit: Rio. It was kind of fun to have a kit whose name was inspired by an ancient global sports competition that only happens every 4 years! Rio was one of my favorite kits this year. Details on winning prizes can be found on the Clique Kits blog post (see link below). If you are a blogger who enjoys doing blog hops and posting your creations online, I highly recommend you visit the Clique Kits website where you can read about the many benefits of subscribing.

August 2016 Line-Up

If you get lost or need info go back here—->Clique Kits
Gia Lau <—-You are here
Go here next—->Erica Thompson
*Kat Benjamin
*Marcia Dehn-Nix
Kim Allen
*Maryam Perez
*Caroli Schulz
*Melissa Vining
*Leeann Pearce
Sara Mishler
Donna Espiritu
Leigh Ann Odynski

An Instax Mini Album

First let me say that I have had an Instax Mini 8 camera since Christmas. The thought of spending $1.00 per print (that is approximately how much the “film” costs) -I’m not gonna lie-made me really hesitant to snap a lot of the time! What if it didn’t come out as expected? What if I end up with lots of wasted time and money? The camera sat on the shelf except at birthday parties when my kids would take it out for their impromptu photo booths. At least they could have fun, because they didn’t think about the cost!

Then I decided to try the Instax Share printer, which I finally got for my birthday this August- which uses the same film to produce mini polaroids, but prints images directly from a source- such as my iphone! Yay! I love this so much better, and did not hesitate to print out an album full of pics, knowing in advance how the photos would turn out!

Disclaimer**

If you cringe at the thought of a somewhat corny, lovey-d0vey album featuring two “old people’s ridiculous selfies” –that is a direct quote from my teenagers– then you might want to skip to the next blog (Ahem. You have been warned.)

Everything I used to fill the pages came from the August kit Rio , plus a couple of store item add ons (the Amy Tangerine rubber embellishments , the blue acrylic heart on the cover, and one pineapple die cut from the Clique into Summer kit)

I just love a little chunky mini that fits in the palm of my hand and is FULL of memories. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

-xoGia

Sunday Funday: A Halloween Mini Album

To create this mini album I used some of the pieces found in my Day-of-the-Dead mini kit from Clique Kits such as the 2 canvas boards as my covers, the black chevron washi tape from We R Memory Keepers, the black leather tassel, the spider loteria card, and the black mini-clothespin. Did you know that the majority of this kit was made from authentic ephemera, as in recycled/re-purposed paper goods and found objects? Clique Kits is aiming to integrate greater sustainability and eco-conscious choices in with the rest of the alternatives we have to create with.

The rest of the patterned paper pieces were scraps from the Crate Paper Wonder collection, an add on paper pack in the store, and some of the stickers and embellishments from the Crate Paper Wonder collection and the Pinkfresh Studios collection in the October Funfetti kit. The only real “Halloween” themed additions to this mini album were the crocheted pumpkin from the Clique Kits store and the Halloween stamp I used from my stash! I used an orange colored gelato to create a wash background to stamp on. I kept this mini album simple and easy for little hands to manipulate knowing my youngest children would really enjoy looking at it and showing it to their best friends, who are also in the photos with them.

Holiday and seasonal themed supplies used to be a trigger for me to make many impulse buys I later regretted and had a hard time purging after they sat around year after year in my craft stash never getting used before they were no longer trendy and I was chasing the next hot collection the next year! As a former hoarder of scrapbooking supplies, especially patterned paper, I finally learned that themed collections were one of my major pitfalls. In reality, any collection can be used for any occasion, with the addition of just a few choice embellishments. You can even make your own “themed” embellishments, dig into your stamps, dies, or search online for free printables and cut files. I hope this little project inspires you to free yourself to use your stash and your kit supplies to get your seasonal and holiday projects done. It will be easier on your budget and will also challenge you to think outside the box! You can find some ideas for small, inexpensive yet unique touches for Halloween, fall, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in the Clique Kits store that won’t require you to spend a fortune or buy more than you need. There is also a coupon code for 25% off everything except new pre-subscriptions and pre-orders of holiday kits.

Clique Kits August Pep Rally: Featuring Ambrosia

Hi friends! I am very excited to particpate in this month’s Pep Rally! This month’s Clique kit Ambrosia featured the Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss collection and so much more! This kit was so inspiring to me to get started creating again and I have been working on this mini-album documenting my recent long weekend in Kauai. You should have come from the Clique Kits Blog. Here is the full line-up:

Clique Kits

Here—>Gia
Erica <—Next
Sophie*
Sandy G.*
Megan
Emma Prescott
Mariah
Cassandra*
Donna*
Aliza*
Kim Allen
Tyra
Karrie
Evi Ortes
Hannah

So I have written a lot so far about this mini album and today’s post for the Pep Rally will be a continuation of the series. Since this is a brand new blog it isn’t too hard to find the last two posts if you are interested 🙂

For today’s post, I decided to show you a watercolor technique to make a multicolored or ombre colored pineapple with a diamond cross hatch pattern much like the pineapple design in the Pink Paislee collection. I used this technique to create a personalized layout in my mini album featuring a photo of my son Jesse.

Here we go!

And now let’s head over to see what great project Erica has today!

Documenting Snorkeling Na Pali Coast

The beautiful Na Pali Coastline of Kauai is one of the most amazing pristine places to snorkel and observe the gorgeous tropical fish and other sea life along a living reef. It is only accessible by boat or by air. We were lucky enough to take a cruise on a 65 foot catamaran called the Blue Dolphin II. I wanted to create a special interactive layout that my son would appreciate when he looks at this album and remembers our snorkeling experience in Kauai.

I started with a package of tropical fish embellishments from Little B. I felt like these stickers were exactly the fish we saw underwater! Perfect! In order to create the transparent watery effect I was looking for, I left them attached to the clear plastic backing in the packaging. I cut them apart in random shapes and dipped the plastic in some paint from Jillibean Soup that came with my Clique into Color kit.

Once I had the fish inside the pocket I used my fingers to smoosh the paint around a little until I was happy with the appearance. You do have to be careful not to use too much paint or it will ooze all over the front of the fish.I used some sequins and enamel dots for finishing touches.

And here is how I made the adjacent page