trends – Gia Aloha

Scrapbooking Trends Top 10

Trends in scrapbooking are something I have always had an interest in following. I have been told that I kind of have a knack for recognizing and even predicting the biggest trends that will go viral in the scrapbooking world. This being the case, I thought I would start doing more trend posts on this blog for all of my scrappy crafty friends! So here we go…

Number 10:

Swans are in. Also spotted but completely unrelated are Peacocks and Flamingos. Especially in scrapbooking if you work for Crate Paper and your name rhymes with Baggie Gomes.

Number 9:

More random animals of a furry rather than feathered variety such as llamas, giraffes, and my personal favorite the sloth.

Giraffes have recently been spotted in the newest Dear Lizzy collection from American Crafts!

Number 8:

Boho style and anything with Tassels or Pom Poms! They just give everything a pop of color and je ne sais quoi ! Tassels are also still trending !

Number 7:

Mandalas have been making more appearances such as in collections by Jillibean Soup and in digital die cutting files!

ooooooooh! Pretty!

Number 6:

Black backgrounds! Everybody loves a pretty floral, but a pretty floral on a black background…now that is something else all together! In scrapbooking, look out for layouts on a black background also. Amy Tangerine’s latest Shine On collection is one to look for where black is definitely the new black!

Number 5:

Holographic materials. These have started showing up in everything from alphabets to accents on embellishments and papers. I’m thinking about Shimelle’s recent collections!

Number 4: The colors blue and purple and especially blue and purple together! Pinkfresh Studios Indigo Hills 2 and recent Cocoa Vanilla collections illustrate this trend perfectly.

Number 3:

Modern slang phrases! Here are some I love–

cool AF (where AF means As F@*&$)

Lit up = awesome

Low Key = Kind of sorta

FOMO = Fear of missing out

I know sometimes it’s like a foreign language but it isn’t just for teenagers and snapchat, unless you’re a total NOOB ( that means beginner or newcomer)

Number 2:

Hand lettering and calligraphy. You don’t even have to be that good at it- thanks to lettering stamps, outline hacks, and kind of cool markers.

Number 1:

Buffalo Checks/Plaids! And they are not just for Christmas anymore. Thank you Joanna and Chip for this Magnolia/Fixer Upper trend which seems to really, really be sticking around!

Now it’s your turn to tell me what you think of these trends! Please comment and share your likes/dislikes and any trends I have missed!

-xGia

But first coffee…and donuts

This may not be big news to you on the mainland US, but here on Oahu I am pretty excited because I heard a rumor that Dunkin’ Donuts shops are going to be coming to the island. I love D & D donuts and coffee! For today’s But First Coffee post I am sharing some cute things new to the Clique Kits shop starting of course with some new donuts!

These cute puffy stickers are adorable! There are 6 to a sheet for only $1.00!

How about these sticky note tabs from Japan! My pick of course- the donuts! (And cupcakes) These are only $3.00 per set while supplies last.

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Have you heard of squishies? These donut key chains/planner bling as I call it (stuff to hang from and decorate my planner) are really fun- and just a little squeeze has NO CALORIES or FAT! Yay!

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I DO-NUT know if you know this, but Clique Kits has the cutest planner kit still available! It features these small donut sticky notes which double as a hole reinforcer if you have a ring bound planner. The rest of the kit is truly amaze-balls. You can see a really terrific unboxing video here.

And I don’t know if you have been following any of the newest releases from your favorite manufacturers, but Amy Tangerine’s new line called Oh Happy Life! contains this paper:

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You can be sure that Clique Kits will be carrying many of the newest scrapbooking products just released as we restock the store after the summer sales. This week I will be heading to Salt Lake City for the SPC Mixed Media trade show and scoping out more new products for Clique Kits!

In the meantime, I came across this coloring challenge on Amy Tangerine’s blog and really enjoyed the Blog Hop. I have recently played with some coloring on some color-your-own papers and journaling cards myself and I recommend these pencils to get started with ! I think that we will be seeing more coloring designs infiltrating the scrapbooking world! I especially love the idea of stamping freestyle in a travel journal and then coloring them in just to enjoy the process. Travel journals are a great place to get creative in smaller blocks of time, experiment with different media and techniques, and really free yourself to not have to finish a complete project or make everything a masterpiece to enjoy journaling and documenting every day. I am super excited that Clique Kits is putting together a limited edition travel journal kit right now! It will be available later this summer!

JHCE2067

I don’t want to be a spoiler by sharing the contents of the new travel journal kit just yet, so make sure you subscribe to this blog and the Clique Kits blog, and follow Clique Kits on Facebook and Instagram for all the updates! Check out the new stuff added to the Clique Kits store!

-xGia

Tuesday’s Topic: Marbled Hearts

If you are a follower of Giaaloha on instagram you may have seen this pic recently! If not, please follow my Instagram feed!

This technique uses nail polish and shaving cream!

Spread some shaving cream in a container

Drip some nail polish on top. I also spritzed some gold lame mist.

Then use a toothpick to make a design

Gently lay each heart down on the surface and lift it straight up.

Once the foam settles and the air bubbles pop

Wipe the surface with a smooth cloth

such as a piece of clean cloth used to clean electronic screens or eye glasses

If you do not have these, a scrap of any soft rag such as flannel or old t-shirt will work.

Each one has it’s own final appearance.

It takes a little experimentation to get different effects.

If you don’t have the time or or the desire to get messy, you can buy some of these handmade embellishments already made for you in the Clique Kits school store. April is our anniversary month and one of our goals for this year is to educate and share even more with our followers and community about our values and our goals of carrying MORE handmade, sourced from small business, Girl boss owned, and fair traded and eco-conscious companies! If you happen to be a DIYer or the owner of such a company and would like to contact us about your products, please feel free to email me at gia@cliquekits.com.

-xoGia

Mojo Monday

Aloha! I just realized that almost 2 months have gone by and I still have not posted about one of the craft and hobby industry’s biggest source of mojo! The CHA winter show was held for the last time ever in Anaheim, California this year from January 8-13th. This year the entire Clique Kits leadership team was able to attend, which was even more inspiring since we were able to combine our own company retreat with the industry’s largest trade show. What was even more inspiring to me than seeing all of the new products and all of the “celebrities” was just hanging out with and watching the Clique Kits leadership team in action! We have evolved into a well oiled machine over the past two years, and yet still continue to grow and improve!

Here we are approaching the Anaheim Convention Center to get registered and then head out to Disneyland, California for some food, drinks, and heart to heart discussion of our progress and goals as individuals and as a company! Some people may not realize that the Clique Kits founders and leadership team work together from many different zip codes and time zones. How is that possible? We use the internet of course and video teleconferencing technology. So meeting up face to face to is a once a year opportunity!

Time for some Mexican food!

Fresh guac-Nom Nom!

One of the things I love about working with a team of girl bosses is that we started the company with the intention to empower each other, not have power over each other. Like any good team, with each player in the role where their strengths are used to the team advantage, everyone thrives! Sometimes stressful situations can pull even the best of friends apart. Basic tenets of communication and preventive maintenance are key in this situation. Some of the things the CK girls do to maximize team work are:

Chat every day in our Clique Kits leadership chat group!
Meet regularly starting with a monthly “check-in” just to update each other on life outside of the company!
Back each other up. We are each able to step up to fill in for each other in any task if needed to help each other when we need to step away “offline” for family or personal situations. We give each other breaks-whenever asked!
Communicate effectively. We know how to give and take constructive criticism. We are able to express ourselves freely with no fear of retribution. If anyone finds anyone else hard to take, we don’t ignore it. We clear the air right away!

Here we are at Downtown Disney- yummy macaroons for dessert!

Back at our hotel suite-we had two adjoining rooms for the 5 of us. Sandy was our special guest as a design team member she was able to shoot lots of video for the Clique Kits and her personal You Tube channel covering the sights and activities we shared at CHA! Every night was basically a slumber party- we stocked the room with food & drinks and talked into the night making plans and going over the day’s events.

Nicole took this picture of me because I have been kind of obsessed with Zebras lately. LOL

Echo Park company had a map to pin an Instax picture to your location on- I also loved this collection of all of the states-especially my favorite state- Hawaii.

It was really neat to see the Altenew booth again-this year doubled in size! Last year we were so excited to order the stamp set we included in our Clique Cards Spring Edition 2015 and got to see the cards the Altenew owner created with the kit which featured the first My Mind’s Eye On Trend collection by Jen Allyson. We decided to do an encore performance and order the second On Trend (On Trend 2) for Clique Cards: Spring 2016 which is on sale now for pre-order! This time, we found another cute stamp from Hero Arts that coordinates with it perfectly! There are also NEW Altenew stamps available in the Clique Kits store, along with the amazing inks we tried out ourselves, and highly recommend for crisp,clean stamping perfection! (Ugh so many exclamation points- but I can’t help it.)

Another product we will be bringing to The Clique this summer- possibly alone or in a kit, are these really cool watercolor powders which contain a mixture of colors by Cosmo Cricket. They were super fun to play with giving a multitude of cool effects!

Recently the Clique Kits leaders have opened up a heart to heart discussion about heading in a direction away from doing business with large monopoly corporations in the industry, and moving in a direction favoring working mostly with smaller companies with whom we have built trusting, mutually rewarding relationships in our first two years of business. We realize this is a major step, and may disappoint certain people who continue to covet the products controlled by certain conglomerates. On the other hand, with these products widely available elsewhere, skipping over them for Clique Kits would enable us to focus more on exclusive products, and again, allow us to network with and nurture our relationships with smaller companies and newer start up companies we could easily overlook otherwise. This is not to say we wish to boycott, or in any way put down large corporations in the craft and hobby industry. It is simply the topic of discussion and the Clique Kits leadership team is interested in hearing what other think. Clique Kits is still and always will be committed to supporting small businesses, indie artists (Etsy and handmade items,etc) and huge fans of fair trade sourcing products that give back to communities around the world! I would love to hear of sources to check out-so please feel free to make recommendations and comments!

-xo Gia

Trends to try!

Hey, what’s up? I love this mug. I saw it at Target and it inspired the name of an upcoming Clique Kit…oops spoiler alert! One of the things I love to do on a bloggy catch-up weekend is grab my coffee and talk trends. So let’s do it!

Trend 1 Marbleized surfaces:

paper by Me and My Big Ideas

Marble and marbleized surface design on paper is a really really old technique. But it has re-surfaced as a modern pattern in everything from stationery to fashion to home decor. Italian bookmakers and handmade paper makers actually invented over a dozen specific patterns of marbleizing, but my favorite is freeform. I especially love when metallics like gold and copper are mixed in. I have seen more and more marbleized paper appearing in scrapbooking recently from patterned paper collections from Dear Lizzy to Crate Paper to Maggie Holmes and even a whole monochromatic marble line from Bazzill basics. I think we will continue to see marbleized paper through several more seasons!

Trend 2 Plaid Patterns:

I think this trend was especially apparent at Christmas time when black and red and sometimes gold were very hot, but get ready for Spring when pastel colored plaids and tartans are going to be just as big a hit! I am especially enamored with some patterns I saw from Photoplay paper company and Lawn Fawn!

Trend 3 Wild Things:

Animal Prints, animal faces, geometric animal illustrations, and more…we seem to have developed a fetish for our furry friends- whether wild or domesticated, cute and cuddly or not so much! Some trends have been around in fashion and have always made a bold statement, like giraffe print and zebra print. What kinds of wild looks do you like?

2015-Fall-and-Winter-Women-Fashion-Cute-Animal-Cat-Face-Pattern-Print-Loose-Plus-Size-M

Pictured above is an ipad cover with a non traditional zebra print spotted at Target, a We Are Memory Keepers Clearly Posh acetate print in gold cheetah, and a cat face sweater!

Trend 4 Tassels and pom poms:

I have been seeing tassels and pom poms everywhere. I don’t know about you. They started out as something I saw mostly as party decor-banners made up of fringy tassels made from crepe paper in pastel colors and even gold. Now I am seeing accesories and key chains and even techie gear like the item pictured made from classy leather tassels. Small tassels are pretty embellishments on mini albums and planners. I remember making pom poms in summer camp once- I never thought it was something I would look up again, but I couldn’t help myself. Here is a link to a super easy fork method of making pom poms and a tutorial to make this adorable and trendy pom pom bracelet!

Jewelry-DIY-ideas-pompom-bracelet-designs-to-make-6

Trend 4 Brushstrokes and Painterly Effects

This is defined as patterns where the artist’s hand is visible in the strokes of paint-whether watercolor, ink, acrylic, or oil, or even splashes- there is evidence left behind of the process of the artist. We are loving this look lately-from monochromatic to bold splashes of colors- and even florals! There are some amazing collections that have come out incorporating this style for scrapbooking by designers like Dear Lizzy, Amy Tan, Ashley Goldberg, Paige Evans, Shanna Noel, and many more! I can’t wait to get these in my upcoming Clique Kits (oh no-more spoilers)

pencil_skirt,x1055,front-bg,f8f8f8.2u2 — Mariko Brushstroke Painterly Pencil Skirt

Trend 5 Geometrics

These designs are really popular right now and really make an impact on any space-like this bedroom wall. I love geometric patterns on paper and geometric renderings of animals likes bears and foxes. They look really cool in scrapbooking too. Keep an eye out for dies, stamps, wood and acrylic shapes, die cut pieces, and paper patterns incorporating geometric designs.

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Trend 6 Neon Pastels

This is more of a color palette trend but I have seen a lot of this especially in fashion and it also influences paper and embellishment collections in scrapbooking we like, planner colors along with accessories. I really like to add pops of neon and gold to my pastels-so feminine and pretty for Spring!

pastels and neon

Trend 7 Succulents

How about those cactuses (plural cacti?) And their cousins the succulents? These have become the houseplant to have lately, and naturally, images of them are a popular motif in stamping, cards, and paper patterns. I was given one as a gift and with my black thumb I managed to…never mind. It’s too sad. I do have a really nice thriving one outside on my front lanai.

I probably missed some new popular trends, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind! I hope you enjoyed my trend talk- please let me know your thoughts!

-xo Aloha! Gia

Mojo Monday: Things Inspiring Me Lately

Eyes: Windows to the Soul

I spotted this article and project by Alexandra Michiardi called Crete Travel Journal in my current copy of Somerset Memories magazine and I loved the somewhat randomness of the eye stamp and how it really stood out on the page.

I am a huge fan of Alexandra’s illustrations and I have bought many of her stamps in her Etsy store known as byMeli-Melo. I learn so much from her blog and the work her creative team did with her past stamp set releases. I highly recommend following her blog and Instagram for some awesome mojo!

I believe that eyes are going to be an up and coming icon trend. Here is an example of an eye I saw on a pair of sweatpants by Roxy brand clothing company:

I am seeing eyes popping up on flat design graphics and I will be honest with you- I saw them in Starbucks on some coffee mugs last holiday season and I was a fan right off the bat. I don’t know why- they appeal to me. But like when they saw fruit patterns and pineapples in designs at first and some other recent trends my friends are telling me they are “creeped out” by them. Okay. I’ll just wait 6 months and ask them again. In the mean time, I am inspired to dig in to this Basic Grey paper line called Barista which is available from Clique Kits. Yes of course I will show you what I end up making with it!

Paper Catalogs

Published August 1st ( annually on my birthday) the Close to My Heart Catalog and Idea Book

I always love CTMH stamps and I am impressed with the way the company has kept up with the industry. They now carry many embellishments like washi tape, enamel dots, project life style card sets, and even 4 x 4 style Instagram albums and page protectors with 2x 2 divided pockets. I have many friends who are still consultants and I hope this company sticks around. In a digital world, there is something heavenly to me about a paper catalog. It always brings me good mojo. And whether it’s CTMH or Stampin’ Up or any other direct sales product- if you send me the catty- I will order. We are tactile-visual people after all, aren’t we? Otherwise, why would we be so attracted to paper-crafting?

George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and the HBO television series ( can’t wait for the final season although many of my favorite characters have been killed off) You can now watch some of the seasons by internet streaming- I think its Hulu or Netflix. (Make sure no one under 18 or who passes out at the sight of blood is in the room if you do watch it though. It contains everything listed under adult content and then some-nudity-okay flat out sex-sometimes disturbing-violence, blood, gore,etc)

In one of the earlier seasons Khal Drogo and Khaleesi use these terms of endearment for each other (the Khaleesi also eats a horse’s heart in a ceremony for her love) and well if that isn’t love I don’t know what is. I have been inspired to use them in some designs lately and sent some sketches over to the Clique Kits graphic designer! I have seen jewelry popping up with a his and hers stamped message: She says, “My sun and stars” to which he replies, “Moon of my life” You don’t even have to be a fan of Game of Thrones to appreciate the romance of it. I am kind of over “I love you to the moon and back” now so this is going to be the next big moon reference. I.M.O.

Origami and Kawaii Art

As if little illustrated cute things weren’t cute enough like bunnies and kitties, put a really really cute smiley face on them and you have something kawaii which means cute in Japanese. I mean, it’s just sooooo cute. This wood veneer rabbit is actually a box which I will use as a gift card holder for a baby shower. Lately, even food and drinks have to have a smiley face-as do plants and weather, like suns and clouds. I went out for sushi the other night, and was afraid my California roll was going to smile up at me.

Origami is another thing. I never really got into it- the actual paper folding part. But flatten the designs and turn it into stamps and die cuts and patterned paper and I’m all in. I love these earrings though. Handmade and for sale at a local Japanese market in Honolulu.

I am pretty sure we will continue to see kawaii illustration, origami, and sumi-e style chinese painting styles with ink and watercolors continuing to be very popular. Any patterns where the artist’s hand and brushstroke visible in the pattern is going to be in style!

And that concludes this week’s episode of Mojo Monday! I hope you enjoyed it! I would love to hear what is is inspiring you lately. I am always on the lookout for ideas!

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!

E Komo mai! Welcome to my new blog!

August is my birthday month, so I decided it is the perfect month to make a fresh start on a brand new blog. I will save the story of why I have been too busy to blog for another day and get right to my first project. I already shared this layout on the Clique Kits Instagram, so it isn’t brand new. I need to open a new personal Instagram also, to go along with this new blog. Baby steps, right?

This layout was made with my August kit Ambrosia. It was love at first sight for me and this pair of Vans tennis shoes. Now we go everywhere together. This kit featured the Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss collection. I have been spying the trend of what I have called the Neo-Lily Pulitzer trend in scrapbooking this year for a really, really long time. If any of you were followers of my old blog, you know I used to write a column all about trends, and I predicted we would be falling in love with fruit, especially pineapples, as well as things like flamingos for quite some time now! Speaking of trends, I LOVE to follow the trends in paper patterns and embellishments as much if not more than I love to follow trends in fashion. How about you? I would love to know if you would be interested in my starting another column about trends on THIS blog. Let me know in the comments please!